Worst Jumpchain Ever
by Dhagon
Summary: You'd think travel between dimensions would be one of the best things that can happen to a person. Especially if they start by gaining magic. And it might be. If you didn't end up trapped between a psychotic villain, corrupt government and untrustworthy allies in a repeating cycle. SI. Sequel to A Brighter Future. Possible X-overs later.
1. Introductions

Worst Jumpchain Ever

You'd think travel between dimensions would be one of the best things that can happen to a person. Especially if they start by gaining magic. And it might be. If you didn't end up trapped between a psychotic villain, corrupt government and untrustworthy allies in a repeating cycle.

(A/N): I do not own Harry Potter. Story inspired in part by

Yet Another Universe by Silverfawkes and

0800-Rent-A-Hero by brainthief

Chapter 1 Introductions

Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Light, carefully took his place around the ritual circle along side a handful of others. He didn't like bringing in so many others, but he wasn't powerful enough to cast the spell by himself.

So he called up the Order of the Phoenix. Sadly they didn't just take his word for it and it wasn't like he would be able to lie about the ritual. Not when it would so obviously summon a version of Harry Potter.

So he had been forced to reveal that the famed Boy-Who-Lived had been killed by his muggle family. He was sure it was an accident, but Minerva's tirade meant everything looked upon him with askance.

Running out of time he had revealed far more information than he was comfortable with. While he did keep from revealing the entire prophecy he had been forced to reveal the existence of the part Voldemort already knew.

Still he had eventually brought the Order around. And not a moment too soon as the summer solstice had been fast approaching. And now they were all set to summon a young Harry Potter who did not have a prophecy affecting him as well as being too young to have started Hogwarts.

After all if he was going to properly create a martyr he needed to ensure his conditioning goes according to his plan. And the fuss of having misplaced the Boy-Who-Lived would lead people into not trusting him.

Why can't people just see he knows what's best for them?

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Sirius took me to the platform early, at my insistence. He teased me about already abandoning him, but I knew he didn't mean it. Besides I left him a list of things I wanted. He'd be busy for quite sometime gathering them all. Hopefully busy enough to not have time to mope.

Striding confidently through the brick pillar marking the entrance I closing my eyes reflexively. _Please don't slam into the hard stone wall._ A half stumble later and I was through.

Probably should have pushed a cart though. I guess that's the downside of having your luggage shrunken down and worn in a necklace.

As soon as I was through I released Hedwig. She cuffed me with a wing before landing on my shoulder. She doesn't like being caged. Even the brief trip through the station upset her.

She really is just as intelligent as she was portrayed in the books. Completely worth braving the crowds in Diagon Alley a second time. I gently scratch her as I board. I can feel the bond between Hedwig and I already forming. It's beautiful. Magic really is wonderful.

A feeling of unease causes me to tense. The air feels heavy all of a sudden. Startled, Hedwig hops onto the her cage.

The air stirs as a vortex opens up next to me. I try to dive away, but am trapped in the corner. Instead all I can do is watch as it grows and the edge gets closer to me. When it touches my I feel a jerking sensation like being punched in the gut and then a spinning, crushing sensation all over.

The sensation ends abruptly by slamming me down into the ground. Which feels like it's made from solid stone. Given the way my vision seemed to be all wobbly despite my very highly enchanted glasses I decide I may have a concussion.

As I lay there getting my breath back I listen to the conversation around me.

"It worked. It really is Harry Potter." I stifle a groan as I keep listening. So far it doesn't sound like I've been kidnapped by Unspeakables or Aurors. Things are looking up.

"Harry my boy. Are you alright?" No. That's not possible. I killed him.

I shift my point of view to see who was talking, blessing Sirius how had insisted on adding in the enchantments from Mad-Eye Moody's spinning eye. He claimed they were perfect for a growing boy and buddying prankster. I'm just glad it meant I didn't need to move my aching head.

I gape at the sight of Albus Dumbledore standing alongside Severus Snape. And they were easy to recognize. Unlike the ones I had arranged to kill these looked just like the characters from the movies. A quick look around me and I see I'm laying in the middle of a very large ritual circle and surrounded by people, some I vaguely recognize.

Well, this isn't good.

A small rune only I can see lights up on my glasses. I grin savagely at the lack of mental pressure. Looks like my glasses work. Worth every penny. Even with the two legilimancers I know about dead I had been feeling exposed. My Occlumency after all was very new. Looks like it just paid off. The invisible layer of dragon hide blocked directed magic while a minor warding scheme alerted me to any legilimency attempts.

Oh yeah. I was asked a question. "What the fuck just happened to me?" And assuming this is fairly canon. "I'm not talking to anyone without my lawyer present."

"My dear boy I assure you that you aren't in any trouble." Yep he's the same condescending prick depicted in the story. I listen to him ramble for a bit before holding up a hand, interrupting him.

"Let me get this straight. I was summoned into some kind of alternate dimension. One where I had already died. Just because you needed to cover up accidentally killing me?" I waved off his excuses along with Snape's insults and McGonagall's screeching about respect.

Wow. Snape and McGonagall really are Dumbledore's attack dogs. Well trained too. I watch him calm them down, letting him place himself in the role as the voice of reason. Manipulative bastard.

Still, at least for now it'll be easier to play along. I let myself be persuaded to go along, not really paying much attention to the conversation. I'm much more interested in memorizing everyone who's part of the ritual. Most of them seem a bit suspicious of Dumbledore. McGonagall and Snape seem to both dislike me if the glares are anything to go by. Only Moody seems wary around me.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Dumbledore has me stay with the Weasley's, no doubt all part of his plan. I go along quietly, acting the part of naive disoriented child.

I'm pretty much on autopilot through in introductions, trying to see if there are any differences. So far everything seems the same, everyone acting as they were portrayed in the books. Which sadly means Ron acts like a tactless, insecure git. My obviously expensive clothing didn't help.

The twins were friendly enough and Ginny really did act like a very shy fangirl. It was the mom that I had problems with. Molly Weasley attempted a smothering motherly routine, assigning rooms and chores. She had also kept hold of my vault key when Dumbledore produced it.

Yeah, not happening. "Imperio. Confundus. Obliviate."

There. Now I have a loyal minion. Hopefully the other spells will keep my imperio from showing up.

Not that it wasn't also useful for me. A quick Confundus and Ron believes his rat died. I place it under an imperius curse and have him give me Voldemort's wand. Then I obliviate that memory, cut off a leg and cauterize the stump then stun him. Hopefully any memory loss will be blamed on trauma.

I immediately have Molly take me to Diagon Alley. The presence of Pettigrew means this universe is fairly similar. Given the appearances I wonder if this is the movie version of the world. I want to be sure though. For that I need books and old newspapers.

Thankfully I'm not recognized. It seems changing my hair color to ginger and Molly's presence was enough to keep anyone from looking too closely.

I mail Pettigrew inside an unbreakable cage along with a letter to Amelia Bones. Hopefully she'll be able to do something. Otherwise I'm just going to default to my last plan. Kill everyone.

The only reason I resist is the fact that I was summoned.

I never figured out how I appeared in the Harry Potter universe in the first place. It's likely if I do destroy everything I'll end up getting summoned away yet again.

I want to grab this universe's version of my wand, but resist. No point letting Dumbledore know I have access to Diagon Alley yet. So I browse the other shops for a bit before heading off for my real goal. Gringotts.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

It seems goblins don't have a method of tracking whether someone is alive or not. I make it to and from my, well this world's, vault without any problems. It also seems Gringotts here is the same as from my world, even down the to poem on the front doors.

I have Molly wait in the lobby as I approach a teller. I place five galleons on his desk. "I want to commission several services through Gringotts."

He sneered, but accepted the bribe quickly enough. He took me to an office though so I was satisfied.

Goblins are incredibly greedy creatures. It makes dealing with them very simple. You pay them enough and they'll do just about anything. At least as long as it won't hurt their reputation.

They're also very possessive. Everything they make is only considered rented. No one else thinks that way so they generally don't craft things for others anymore. Personally, I don't care. Since I already have a Philosopher's Stone I'm unlikely to die anytime soon.

All it takes is a simple contract to convince them to deal with me. The contract stated all goblin made items I possess may automatically be reclaimed by the Goblin Nation upon my death. Since the Potter estate has more than a few items in the family vault they're eager to sign the contract.

And just like that I am now allowed to commission goblin forged items.

It's a shame they seem to exclusively work with metal and stone, but I make do. Being stolen from my last universe has made me incredibly paranoid. My trunk mansion is no longer nearly good enough.

I pour gold into a number of projects. The goblins will probably subcontract for parts of it, but I don't really care as long as everything is as tough and durable as the goblins can make them.

The end goal is a replacement for my trunk mansion. I want a necklace layered in enough charms that I never have to worry about losing it while I live. Hanging from it will be the new shrunken entrance trunk. Three trunks on either side will be set up much like Newt Scamander's briefcase. Except much larger and only accessible from the entrance trunk. Instead of areas the size of a farm I want areas the size of cities and forests.

I have each of them built with seven compartments since that was the most stable. And I needed to be perfectly stable since I was paying a small mountain of gold for a mass ritual version of the Undetectable Expansion Charm to be added multiple times.

The entrance trunk will actually be set up so it only looks like it only has one compartment and the inside is the size of a decent sized mansion. From there a few heavily protected secret doors will contain modified goblin-forged vanishing cabinets that will allow access to the other hidden compartments.

Sure making full use of all that space will take time, but I want to start building a resource base. One that can't be taken away from me. Besides, it still only costs me a fraction of all the gold I had stolen in the other universe. Hopefully I'll be able to repeat that trick here.

In comparison the personal wargear I commission is almost cheap. If I end up having to fight here there was no way I was going to depend on something as fickle as luck. No I plan to be armed heavily enough to devastate an army.

It took a few weeks and using imperio on a few muggles. In particular a gunsmith and army mechanic. Not wanting to arm the goblins I made the commissions in pieces. Thankfully with magic involved most of the parts can be eliminated. I'm sure the goblins considered me both insane and wasteful, but it was better than equipping the untrustworthy bastards with the weapons I'm designing.

Thank god for greed. No matter what they thought of me they still made them, even if they did grumble about the precision most of the orders required. As soon as I had the bulk of my orders I assembled them into my first piece of what I considered my wargear. A pair of gauntlets looking like they came straight from a science fiction movie. Well that is anyone besides myself could see them once I put them on.

They weren't actually gauntlets since I was only eleven. Instead they were a series of enchanted pieces all mounted on a pair of dragon hide gloves. That way I can just replace the gloves as I grow instead of having to buy entirely new gauntlets. It also means I'll be able to add new features as they get larger.

The left hand one, my primary, holds a flamethower, a spray pump for pure nitric acid, and a 84mm anti-tank rocket launcher. All three are modified with a revolver style magazine. In the case of the first two it consisted of multiple small tanks.

The right hand holds a spray pump for liquid nitrogen, 20mm machine gun and a pair of automatic 40mm grenade launchers with different ammunition in each. The first fired the standard explosives and the second fired a special round I had the gunsmith create based on the SCMITR shotgun project. The custom rounds fired over thirty spinning, razor-edged flechettes.

Besides being goblin made everything was heavily enchanted. They also used duplication charms so they never run out of ammunition. They were reinforced, kept magically cool, and cleaned themselves. Even the ammunition was heavily enchanted. Silencing, reinforcement, shield breakers, along with a host of other enchantments were added.

A slot on each hand is dedicated to weapon production. A gemino charm allows me to generate enchanted, but temporary .50 caliber rifles and Uzis. I figure it would be useful to be able to hand out weapons sometimes. After all a few guns would have made a pretty big difference at the Battle of Hogwarts.

I'll likely add even more ranged weapons later, but am in no immediate hurry. Besides with just what I now have I'm likely a match for most wizards already.

For melee I only have two weapons. The first is a goblin silver tanto. It is enchanted to never be able to cut someone with my blood, which raised its cost considerably. It was necessary though since I immediately exposed it to a variety of magical venoms including steeler and manticore. I plan on including basilisk fairly soon as well.

The second weapon is a bit of deception. Its actually multiple weapons that look like a single item. A short rod with a small illusion makes the handle look like a short thick wand. A long thin goblin silver chain made from razor sharp links can be extended from it. It's further animated and layered with burning curses. The curses could be turned off and cushioning charms activated over the edges to just have it grab things instead.

Combined with a few programmed illusions it can convincingly fake a few different spells. And the handle can extend up to three of them at once.

Finally I pay for a mask.

While I like my old glasses they aren't enough any longer. The mask is large enough to hold all the enchantments I want added in and like the gauntlets is made of several pieces. Besides being goblin made I have as many visual enhancements as possible added in. Night vision, thermal, detecting poisons and potions, detect magic and even identify several types including tracking charms and wards.

My mask would also filter air or even generate it on command. It could even feed me a variety of drinks as well. If I end up stuck in the field using it I want to be as comfortable as possible.

If I'm here long enough I plan on having a full suit of power armor.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Griphook watched Harry Potter leave Gringotts after picking up his latest order. None of the goblins had been able to tell just what he needed all the different items for. Sure some of it was simple enough. Portals based off vanishing cabinets had long since been used to travel between branches. Having him pay for the research decades after it had been finished was hilarious. Then there was the trunk.

The expanded space made sense since he wouldn't have to worry about it failing. The addition of creating adjustable sunlight and moonlight thought were revolutionary. The purpose was obvious. He was going to create self contained magical farms.

Sure each of those enchantments had to be ritually empowered in order to set properly, but he had paid enough to easily cover the expense. The opportunities for themselves had been enormous and they now had a team devoted to creating more areas for their own use.

Between those two deals the elders had been impressed enough to raise Griphook to his status. He was now an account manager even if it was for the Potter heir.

Some of the weapons had also been easy enough to understand. The knives had been elegant and several smiths had started creating their own. The blood protection enchantment was also interesting and fierce deals were being made in order to get a copy of the enchantment. Of course as the goblin responsible for bringing the discovery to light he was the first allowed to use it.

The whip was also a clever idea even if not practical. For all it's merit, it didn't take any particular skkill to wield. It was also flamboyant and overly complicated. Which made sense since Harry Potter, for all his good ideas, was still a wizard.

Several of the orders though baffled them all. Odd tubes that can screw together seamlessly. Tubes that can fit inside tubes. Groups of tubes welded together. Tubes with decorative grooves, but on the inside! And everything with impossibly precise measurements!

They had done it though. Let no one doubt that the goblins were the best smiths in existence. If the muggles could create such things, and he had brought examples to prove it as well as sworn an oath, then so could they!

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I had just gotten done setting up the last of my magically powered synthetic gemstone generators when Molly brought me a very important letter. It was addressed to her, but was from Dumbledore and about me. She was such a good minion. It seems Dumbledore suggested she take me shopping on my birthday.

And of course we just happen to run into Hagrid while there. Dumbledore really loves manipulating people, doesn't he. Well let the games begin. It's just too bad Hagrid is so loyal to Dumbledore.

I debate the issue for a bit before deciding to wait. I already have one stone and this might just be a decoy. And if things go according to plan I'll still get the chance to grab the stone.

Despite the importance of his errand Hagrid just happens to feel comfortable sticking around to buy me a birthday present. He catches up to us at Ollivander's and decides to watch.

Ollivander makes just as large a production over my getting the holly phoenix wand as he did last time. And even though I already have one, I still smile at the feeling of the wand bonding to me.

When Ollivander makes his comment I make my first public move. "What was his name?" When he looks at me puzzled I continue. "Surely he wasn't named Voldemort" I roll my eyes when everyone flinches. "What was his name before?"

Ollivander looks pale and just a bit frightened as he stares at me. I'm not sure why. Even as Hagrid tries to steer me out of the shop I hear his whispered reply. "Tom Riddle."

Hagrid stops at that. "What?"

Wow, he's furious. "That no good snake is the one that got me thrown out of Hogwarts! And it turns out he's the one that's been going around murdering all those people! I bet he was the one that killed that girl too."

Sadly I can't tell if that's a flash of brilliance or just blind prejudice at work. He stalks off before I can decide.

As I leave with Molly I coo at my new Hedwig. Hopefully I'll have time to fully bond with this one.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

The first of September came around and I got to sit around amused as the Weasley family frantically ran around trying to get ready. They really are a disorganized mess.

I sat quietly with the twins, watching the chaos. Out of everyone in the family I got along best with them. Sure they pulled a few pranks on me, but Molly kept them from going too far. Besides I was already starting to fund them covertly.

Not too much, basically a few galleons or ingredients here and there. But it added up. And I also dropped in a few ideas. Mentioning ideas from later books, fanfiction and even muggle items. I focused on ideas that involved animation. Eventually once they get good enough I have a number of ideas for weapons and traps I want them to develop.

Percy mostly ignored me, which suited me just fine. And poor Ginny was much too shy to do more than squeak at me. Not surprisingly it was Ron that turned out to be the thorn in my side. In the end I used several imperius curses and confunduses to get him to stop paying attention to me.

Only the twins noticed his altered behavior. Although they just thought I was just pranking him somehow.

Annoyed with how long everything was taking I wink at the twins and slip out the door. Then I close my eyes and concentrate. I have memories of apparating as well as experience casting powerful spells. And most importantly Sirius had taken me to the train station in what seemed like a lifetime ago. I focus and push with my magic and vanish with a loud crack.

I reappear right next to the column housing the portal. The loud crack causes a number of people to jump. Thankfully the muggle repelling charm on the portal kept almost everyone from noticing me.

The exception was a girl around my age with very bushy brown hair. She was wearing black Hogwart's robes. Unlike everyone else at the station she was staring right at me. In particular at the robes I'm wearing.

Looks like I get to meet Hermione early.

She certainly wasn't shy either. She just marched right up to me and started interrogating me. "Was that apparition? How did you do that? You're not old enough to have a license. You know you're really not supposed to do that in public. Do you have any idea of how much trouble you could have gotten into?"

I can't help but grin. Opinionated, isn't she. It's actually pretty funny. At least for me. Her parents seem a bit exasperated with her though. As soon as they catch up they interrupt her tirade.

"Hermione. Why don't you introduce us to your new friend?" Hermione seems to finally realize how rude she was being and flushes bright red. It's all I can do not to break out laughing.

I hold out my hand. "Harry Potter."

"Are you really? You're really famous. I read all about you..." She's interrupted this time by her father placing his hand on her shoulder. She blushes again.

Well, time to burst her bubble. Thankfully Sirius Black was finally getting a trial. Fudge, no doubt as Malfoy's urging, had tried to bury the issue, but I had written a letter to Rita Skeeter. I was very frank in the interview.

I wove an enthralling tale of how Peter Pettigrew had ambushed me once I reappeared in the Wizarding World. How he boasted about finally getting revenge for the Dark Lord. How I defeated him and him turning into a rat to escape. How I captured it and then turned it over to DMLE.

Then I asked a few questions. Why was Sirius Black never given a trial? Why do the Malfoy's care about getting rid of Black when his will already names me as his heir? And just how worried should everyone else be? After all this sets a precedent for allowing the ministry to kill off a family they don't like and illegally turning over their assets to their friends.

The next day the front page headlines screamed about Fudge attempting to assassinate a head of family in order to commit line theft on behalf of the Malfoy's. It wasn't even a day later before the trial was announced. It was stalled though and from the vote count it looks like it was Dumbledore's doing. It seems I was right to kill him last time.

"Sorry, everything you read are lies spread by Dumbledore." I hold up a hand to keep her from interrupting. "I am the only living witness and I have never been interviewed. And I remember what happened and Dumbledore never even took so much as a look inside."

"And as for why I said he lied. Do you know there are newspaper articles about my childhood? About how happy and well cared for I was? He lied. And I wouldn't have cared if he hadn't placed me in an abusive muggle home!" I was practically shouting now.

"The first time I saw him was a few weeks ago. And do you know what he said? I quote " I know I was condemning you to ten dark and difficult years." My voice lowered to a hiss. "He knew! He had spied watching me along with monitoring spells. He knew and did it on purpose."

"Isn't it convenient that I was taken from my parents home only minutes after they died? How my godfather was illegally imprisoned a few days afterwards. And then my godmother tortured to insanity right after. And how only then did Dumbledore seal my parent's will and declare himself my guardian?"

Huh. Hermione looks like she's about to cry.

I sigh and take a deep breath. "I'm sorry. But it's been like this the past few weeks. Everyone all excited about how wonderful my life is. The bloody adventure books about me that everyone believes. And it doesn't help that I can't even sue the publishers. Written works don't have to be factual in the wizarding world."

"Language young man." The statement startle me since Hermione's lips weren't moving. Then I realize it came from Hermione's mom. I guess I know where she gets it from.

"Sorry." I run a hand through my hair, a habit I picked up from Harry's memories. "Can we start over?"

I hold out my hand again. "I'm Harry Potter. First year Hogwart's student."

Hermione is a bit nervous, but still shakes my hand. I guess she really is a Gryffindor. " Hermione Granger. Likewise."

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I help Hermione carry her trunk through the portal when I notice her pause, looking around at everything in excitement. Oh yeah. This is her first time. I'm reminded of Sirius and how happy was to see me off.

Great, now I'm annoyed Sirius' trial is being delayed.

Thinking about it for a second I stop to pull out a camera. Sirius had originally bought it for me to record any pranks I pulled. I now have a better use for it.

I hand the camera over to Hermione. A small favor should make things less awkward between us. "Here. You can use it to document the trip to Hogwarts. I'll make a copy of the pictures so you can send them to your parents."

She briefly hugs me and then immediately begins snapping pictures, leaving me to carry her trunk. I wonder if she actually forgot about it. Maybe the camera was a mistake? Hopefully she doesn't become as annoying as the Creevy kid from the story.

Thankfully she settled down quickly. I introduce her to Hedwig, who barks at her when she snaps a picture. I scratch her neck and she huffs and settles down. I grin. It seems this Hedwig is just as bright as the last one.

We talk a bit, but eventually both of us end up pulling out books to read. I am actually studying Arithmancy. Math has always been one of my strongest subjects and I was interested in seeing if it carried over.

Truthfully I want to study goblin metal crafting, since magic items are nice, but permanent indestructible magic items are better. But that's a closely guarded secret so I'll settle for arithmancy and runes.

We continued reading together for a few hours before being interrupted. It was fun teasing and tempting Hermione with sweets. Which sounded much creepier than what actually happened. It casued her open up more though.

What little I remember of her backstory held true. And it seems fanon was correct in at least one case. Her parents really were named Dan and Emma. Oh the irony _._

Still the chocolate frog cards did give me an idea. Some fanfic I had read mentioned a book expanding on the cards. A sort of Who's Who for the wizarding world. I could probably tempt Rita Skeeter to write it and use the opportunity to gain control of her.

I get rid of a potential problem and gain a new source of income. After all transitioning to full author isn't too startling a change for her.

My plotting was interrupted by a knock at the door. When it turned out to be a slightly pudgy boy asking about his toad I couldn't resist the opportunity to show off. I hadn't practiced this spell much so I take a moment to concentrate.

A flick has my wand in hand. With a single, silent wave I flexed my magic, imposing my will on reality. " _Accio_."

The kid, who I'm fairly certain is Neville, and Hermione just look at me like I'm off my rocker. I hold up a hand when they're about to speak. "Wait for it."

There.

The toad gently floats over to my outstretched hand. I grin at the looks of awe on their faces. I love magic and doubt it'll ever lose it's wonder for me.

'How did you do that? What spell did you cast?" Hermione spits out half a dozen questions in a single breath.

Huh. I actually didn't think that through. Hmm.

"I saw Neville here when he arrived at the station. I saw his toad then. I summoned it." I field all of her questions patiently. I spun a story about always being able to summon and how the wand just amplifies the effect. Which is true if my experiments are any indication.

One of the interesting quirks I had discovered was that magic didn't need a wand. Sufficient concentration and desire worked just as well. I had only mastered a handful of spells wandlessly so far. Sadly I hadn't completely mastered summoning yet and hadn't wanted to chance it failing.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Neville eagerly took a seat with us and we had a lot of fun quizzing him about the wizarding world. The attention seemed to do him a lot of good and I could literally see him gaining in confidence as he answered our questions.

Even the interruption of the candy cart helped since Neville was able to explain what each of the different sweets were. Since I hadn't a chance to before I bought some of everything. My favorite turned out to be blood pops. Even though I always did prefer my meat rare that surprised me. After all it was a desert. It tasted like a weird cross between mincemeat and a rare steak.

I was finishing the last of the pack and mourning the fact that I hadn't bought more when the twins finally caught up with me. They stood there are mock glared at me.

"Harry! You have to tell us how you did it! Mum was going spare. She had us searching everyone. We nearly missed the train because of you."

I chuckled at the idea of them not being late. Something which never happened in the books. "I'm sure... that if I hadn't slipped away you would have found another reason for being late. And how I did it was apparition."

Neville stared at me in blatant shock. I knows how unusual what I said is. "Wicked." So apparently do the twins. Hermione just looks stunned. "That's not possible. I looked up apparition. It's only taught during seventh year."

Despite myself I'm impressed. We haven't even started school yet and she already knows so much. She is definitely worth befriending.

"That's impressive mate – And you never splinched yourself?"

"Err. What's that?" I pretend ignorance to the twin's question. After all I shouldn't know everything yet.

Neville reflexively answers the question and Hermione launches into a rant about the dangers of not following rules. I had forgotten just how deeply rooted her love of authority and rules extended. Man the story really did a number on her world view.

Irritated at being lectured by a damn kid I glare at her. Its obviously effective given how everyone flinches and she stammers to a halt. I speak slowly to emphasize my words. "I've been apparating since I was nine. I grew up with my – relatives" I practically spat the last word "who hated magic."

"I learned it by accident. I was being chased by my cousin and suddenly I was on the school roof. Since I was trapped I was trying to figure out how to get down and suddenly I was on the ground. A little practice and I found I could do it on purpose."

"Just when was I supposed to find out about these rules?"

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Neville stared and found himself shying away from Hermione. Harry's glare was terrifying. His eyes were actually glowing and he really hoped Harry never glares at him like that.

Finally Harry closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes again they had stopped glowing. He listened to the twins start talking again and slowly draw Hermione back into the conversation but he was busy thinking.

Neville had recognized what just happened. He had seen his uncle do something similar a few times. Except it shouldn't be possible. It took more than just power. It took a lot of control. From some comments he overheard the kind of control that takes years.

"Just how much wandless magic do you already know?" He freezes for a moment when he realized he asked that aloud. Instead of getting mad though Harry grins and looks impressed. Which is nice and also a relief.

Harry holds up a finger and without speaking it starts glowing. After a moment to get over the surprise everyone starts asking him questions at once. He doesn't seem to mind. He seems pretty comfortable in the role as teacher.

He talks about how magic is more about will and intent than anything else. Mentioning language as his primary example. He goes off on why latin was most likely used for magic and something about literacy levels. He lost most of us at that point. Even Hermione had questions if her raised hand meant anything.

Whatever they started talking about didn't make any sense even when Harry tried to explain. It seemed bad though since it made Hermione sad. Maybe it was good he didn't understand?

It sounds like Harry's going to be a Ravenclaw, which will probably surprise everyone.

The twins slipped out while they were talking, but a few other students had shown up and asked even more questions. Harry didn't let them in the compartment though so they had to stay in the hall. And a prefect got them to leave pretty quickly.

Things were just settling down again when even more people showed up. This time it was only three boys. They were really insulting and rude.

Harry was really polite and then just started attacking. He kicked Malfoy between the legs and then took a step back and waved his hand. Suddenly it got cold and they started screaming.

Which is when the prefects arrived.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Damn. Looking at the frightened faces of Hermione and Neville I think I may have overdone it. Partially my fault too. Why didn't I think to add some non-lethal weapons to my gauntlets?

The rest of the train ride was pretty quiet, with all three of us reading. Although the other two kept shooting me nervous glances. The announcement even causes them both to jump.

At least the boat ride calms them down. The beautiful view along with mt reminder to Hermione to take a picture putting them at ease.

I didn't see Malfoy or the other two once we got off and loaded onto the boats. I wonder how badly they were hurt. I had only used a touch of liquid nitrogen after all. Oh well, not my problem.

Which is apparently wrong.

McGonagall was still addressing us when Snape stomped over to us. "Potter! How dare you attack your fellow students! I'll see you expelled for this!"

I note the rune on my glasses light up. Legilimency again. Then he grabs my arm.

I had seriously intended to lay low. To let the story play out so I can take advantage of as much of my foreknowledge as possible. I almost threw it all away right then.

Rage runs through me and I almost lose control. Snape is literally dragging me by my arm while insulting me. And then, just like any time I get angry enough, I turn cold. And my sadistic side comes out to play.

I don't like being dragged so I go limp, turning into dead weight. He stumbles and I pretend to trip, kicking out his foot and causing us both to fall. I pretend I don't see the wand he draws and points at me.

As soon as the wand tip starts glowing I push with my magic. My hand lights up, blinding him and I trigger the acid sprayer. I make sure to thoroughly douse his wand and arm before stumbling away. Since we had just turned a corner none of the students had seen what I just did.

Snape's screams draw several teachers and the students we had just left. I stammer out a story about hearing something break and funny colored smoke and generally act very confused. Dumbledore pretends to believe me even as his latest attempt at legilimency fails. He does publicly clear me of fault after checking my wand, which I was actually surprised to hear.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I ignore the Sorting Hat as it starts singing, opting instead to look around. It really does look just like the movie version. When Hermione whispers about the ceiling I flash her a grin and make a note to copy the enchantment to include in my trunks.

As students are called up I realize that I remember a lot more faces from the movies than I expected. I also realize I've already caused butterflies. Hermione actually ended up in Ravenclaw and Neville along with several others were sorted into Hufflepuff. And as for Malfoy and his lackeys? They missed it completely.

When my turn came up I was fairly nervous. Depending on how reasonable the hat was I might have to start slaughter people much earlier that planned. Maybe even immediately.

As soon as the hat as set on my head it started speaking. "Calm yourself Mr. Potter. I assure you that will never reveal anything I see in your mind. Do you think any of the pureblood families would send their children here otherwise?"

Which was reassuring. I had hoped so, but given how illogical wizarding society often was couldn't assume that was the case.

"Ravenclaw please." Knowledge is power.

"A shame I can't place you in Slytherin. You certainly meet the requirements. Slytherin would have loved you."

"NO! Do you want me to start killing people right away?"

"You could have been great there. At least if you could resist killing them all. A pity. And since you insist RAVENCLAW."

As I take a seat next to Hermione I can only wonder just how badly I've derailed the storyline already.


	2. School

Chapter 2 School

Dumbledore came out of the pensieve with a concerned expression. Extracting the memory from Severus had been very difficult due to the pain he had been in. Despite his best efforts it was still partially fragmented. Thankfully Mr. Malfoy's memory was in much better shape.

Harry had done his best to hide it. Using a wandless lumos a to try to block sight. But he had caught enough details. In particular the same odd hand gesture in each of the memories. They was too similar, too precise, too deliberate.

Harry had used wandless magic. And powerful magic at that.

It wasn't dark magic. Madam Pomphrey was healing everyone too easily for it to be tainted. But it was dangerous. And Harry didn't have the wisdom to wield such power responsibly.

The problem was without using a wand there was very little evidence. And given how easily he defended his mind Harry was likely a very accomplished Occlumence. None of which was likely for a poor abused boy without any training.

But it was something Tom Riddle could do. That, or his horcrux.

Except there was no scar. There wasn't even a trace of dark magic on the boy. Which meant he couldn't be possessed.

And there were his eyes. Harry Potter had hazel eyes. His mother's vivid green muted by his father's hazel. The Harry Potter they summoned if anything had eyes even bright than Lily's. Thankfully the minor difference could be explained away by his different glasses, but he knew better.

Those eyes shone with power. He couldn't help but think it was ominous that they were the exact same shade as the killing curse. And he can't help but recall that Harry Potter was supposed to be the Dark Lord's equal.

Dumbledore groaned as he went back and forth over the evidence. He still couldn't decide on what to do with the boy.

Obviously he was needed for the prophecy. But he seemed determined to make things more complicated than they had to be. He didn't see the bigger picture!

Freeing Sirius sounded good, but it meant Harry wouldn't be able to keep the protection of the blood wards. And he would need that protection when Voldemort returned.

And blaming him publicly was the exact opposite of what was needed. Dumbledore needed his reputation in order to keep the dark families in check in the Wizengamont.

It didn't matter if he was right, it was the wrong action to take. Harry should have came and talked to him. Given him a chance to show him the right way to do things. Impatience just caused more problems. Haste makes waste as they say.

It was clear Dumbledore needed a new plan. Harry wasn't a horcrux. He was also clearly not the meek beaten down boy he was supposed to be. Which is fine since he no longer needs to sacrifice himself.

Maybe. Maybe he could train Harry to succeed him as the Leader of the Light. After all saving Wizarding Britain twice would cause his popularity to skyrocket. And he wasn't getting any younger.

Yes. This could be just what he needed. Dreaming of a brighter future Dumbledore starts working on a new plan.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I should have expected it. I really should. After all Hogwarts was a school designed for eleven year old children. But somehow I had missed that fact.

Classes were so boring!

The dumbed down explanations, the slow pace. Everything just made my brain feel like it rotting. For someone who's last experience of education was graduate level courses, this was painful.

The worst part was I couldn't even just sit and read. The teachers all seemed to want me in the spotlight and kept calling on me.

At least being a Ravenclaw worked out well. Having my own room, no matter how small, made it easy to study ahead. And Hermione, with her very forceful personality, quickly isolated herself from everyone but me. I had to crush a few minor attempts at bullying, but it was worth it to not have to deal with fangirls.

And it wasn't like I didn't have friends. My actions against Snape won me massive approval from three of the houses. Of course Slytherin wasn't happy and once Malfoy left the hospital wing he led the charge against me. Not that it did any good.

I've always been smarter than my peers. I'm used to ignoring bullies. Even when Snape came back and all but declared a vendetta against me I held back. I even took it as an opportunity.

Every time the teachers failed to act, every time Malfoy got away, and every time Professor Snape acted unprofessionally I sent a wandless Confundus charm at Hermione. It had two parts. The first removed any negative feelings associated with my actions and the second was a simple idea. You can't trust them.

It was contrary to her world view, but it slowly works. Hermione stopped telling my to report incidents and the first time Malfoy physically attacked me and I stabbed him, she didn't say a word. In fact she was outraged on my behalf that I ended up punished worse than the three boys who attacked first.

And then Halloween came around.

I avoided the feast. While I don't have any particular attachment to Harry's parents, it still seemed disrespectful. Besides Hermione ran off crying earlier. Somehow Ravenclaw and Gryffindor all of a sudden now held classes together. I can't help but feel it was an attempt by Dumbledores to get me to befriend Ron. And of course he drives her to tears.

I'm actually a bit excited as I skip through the halls. The Marauder's Map confirmed Quirrell has just entered the Great Hall at a run. I sit and wait under my invisibility cloak near the bathroom Hermione is currently in. Time to see just how much has changed.

When the troll shows up I feel like dancing. Looks like we're in business.

I wait until it enters the bathroom and use my enchantments to watch through the door. As soon as Hermione starts screaming I burst through.

I fire a flechette round into it's back and sigh as it only makes small cuts. I really need a more powerful weapon I can use at close range. As soon as it turns around I spray him in the face with liquid nitrogen.

Blinded it flails around blindly and I duck past it to grab Hermione. She just stands there, frozen in terror. Not wanting to traumatize her I push my magic out and raise my arm. My hand is blindingly bright and keeps her from seeing me fire the 20mm machine gun, cutting the troll in half.

I turn her around so she can't see the remains and hug her. When she whispers "Is it dead?" I just nod and she hugs me back. I'm not sure if it's necessary now, but just in case flick my elder wand out for an instant to cast a confundus at her back. You can trust me.

I wrap my invisibility cloak around us when I hear footsteps and put my finger against her lips. She's hesitant, but nods. We stand there, unnoticed as the professors all arrive. They didn't do much, just stare and then order the house elves to take the remains away.

Hermione's trembling by this point, likely in shock. I remember reading food is good for treating shock so I take her to the kitchens.

"What are they?" Ah. I forgot Hermione hasn't been to the kitchens before. Now how to approach this correctly?

"They're house-elves. Think magical high-end catering and staff. A lot like the shoemaker elves from fairy tales." Seeing the wonder in her eyes I'm fairly confident I hit the right note. It wasn't long before be were sitting down and eating while I continue talking about them. How they have a need to fix and maintain things. How they feed off magic.

I compare their binding to marriage contracts, which still exist in the wizarding world. And why you should never give an elf clothes as it's seen as a disgrace. Much like divorce in Victorian society.

Then I introduced her to Dobby. He positively loved working for me and if anyone could make slavery sound attractive he could. He was actually my world's version of Dobby. When I had been summoned he was inside the trunk, busy organizing all of the books I had looted from the death eaters.

That night I started Hermione's Occlumency lessons. She trusts me and now I need to be able to trust her.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

There's something very intimate about sharing someone's mind. Despite all I've done I'm still surprised and more than a little flattered Hermione trusts me that much. No doubt the growing crush I detect the first time I use legilimency on her plays a part.

In some ways this was perfect. A relationship would only cause Hermione to trust and rely on me more. Except I'm not a pedophile. I am in no way sexually attracted to children.

And that would be the end of it, except I started having wet dreams. Sure, intellectually I can understand it. My body is entering puberty. The hormones are triggering a bunch of involuntary reactions.

Absorbing Harry's memories changed me more than I realized. Because that should have worked. A calm analysis of the situation and then I move on. But no. I still feel guilty! Worse I blush when I meet up with Hermione.

Screw this. Well not literally. Actually. Maybe literally. It has technically been months or years depending on whether you count my body or memories, since I've had sex. Maybe that's all I need?

I make an excuse about being tired to Hermione and go to my room early. Then I enter my trunk.

The Dursley's are all busy working with Dobby. They're mostly just helping him sort through all the piles of loot I've accumulated and never sorted through. "Pet. Come with me."

I feel a bit nervous as I lead her to a bedroom. I'm not sure why. It's an odd reaction. I do my best to ignore it. "Drink this."

I had Dobby go shopping for me this afternoon. Apparently Dobby exists in this world and he's known as the Malfoy house-elf. My Dobby thinks it's hilarious. He can just walk into a store, place and order and tell them to place it on their tab.

Although he does mention wanting to free this world's Dobby. I easily promise that although I mention having two Dobby's could get confusing. Dobby immediately volunteers to change his name. So I rename him Dobbins.

Aunt Petunia, because there was absolutely no way I was going to sleep with a guy, no matter what he looked like, drank both potions I handed her. Then I watched as she shifted into the form of an older Hermione.

Tentatively I run my fingers through her hair. She really is beautiful. Still young, but any older I'd feel awkward trying to sleep with someone so much larger than myself.

It felt amazing, at least at first. I had really missed having sex. And under the imperio Pet was willing and even enthusiastic. Of course the dead look in her eyes did kind of kill the mood.

Of course the next day I realize I might have made a mistake. If anything I felt even more awkward around Hermione. Every time I looked at her I saw got an image of an older naked version of her.

Given my furious blushing it was obvious something had happened. I don't no why I'm acting this way. In fact I hate it. Screw this. If I have to embarrassed for no reason, so does she.

The first time Hermione asks me if anything happened I pull her into a hug and cast a Confundo at her back. A quick legilimency probe places the suggestion. You came up to wake me up. And you heard me moaning your name while masturbating.

There. Now we're both horribly embarrassed.

As we silently eat breakfast I think about what I learned last night. It seems a purely human change reverts even when used on a muggle. Since Vernon is still in Hagrid's form I assume part-humans are still permanent. So maybe I should look for some veela hair?

Actually can I buy a veela? That sounds kind of like something Dobby, no Dobbins, would know.

I know house-elves can be purchased. The last time I was in Diagon Alley I saw a place called the House Elf Placement Agency, which was pretty much a store. My goblin trunk hadn't been ready then so I had skipped it. It was ready now though.

Of course it's also empty. The first room, section, or floor is of course the one that's going to become my secret manor. Which was why it was a full five hundred feet high. Of course I expected it to be empty. Which was why when I saw a massive pile of metal arches seventeen feet high I went to investigate.

It turns out the goblins were great believers in efficiency. They hadn't created vanishing cabinets at all. Instead they created portals. There was an instruction booklet that gave instructions on how to move them as well as a warning about taking them out of the expanded space they're attuned too. Although it was annoying they refused to make me smaller, more convenient ones. "One size only" indeed. Irritating bastards.

While the size of the room is impressive and no doubt my eventual manor will be too, it'll still be depressing to look out a window and only see enormous bare metal walls. Which was why I found myself painting runes all along the walls and ceiling.

While normally goblin silver resists all magic Godric had found a way to add enchantments on his sword. The room of requirement was able to show me a memory of how he did so. It was surprisingly easy.

Goblin silver absorbs certain types of energy. Magical blood is one of them. So you paint a rune scheme in blood and it gets absorbed and added. And also thanks to the room I was now copying the runes used on the roof of the Great Hall.

I figure enchanting at least the ceiling to match the magically generated sunlight and moonlight would make the place more realistic. I want to go further though, and the room came through, providing additional rune schemes to add. Soon I'll have programmable weather, with wind, actual clouds and even rain. And of course fresh air.

Still despite all that I"m going to need help if I really want to set up enclosed self-sustaining ecosystems. For that I approached Professor Sprout. She was too willing to recommend several recently graduated muggleborns looking for herbology related work .

I actually left most of the dealings to Dobbins. I stole the vanishing cabinet from Borgin and Burkes along with it's pair in Hogwarts and had Dobbins use it to arrange for transportation. The work was presented it like a large scale greenhouse, which it kind of was. I already no it's going to be slow.

Part of it was the scale. Each of the final compartments, with their charms fueled by mass rituals was over two miles across. And since all that vertical space would have been wasted I had the goblins install a floor an average of every hundred feet. Between the hundred and ten levels created I ended up with a touch over 477 square miles. Which is an almost ludicrous amount of space. And between all of my trunks I had forty-nine such compartments.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

School is getting worse. I hadn't realized it was possible, but it was. Snape hasn't touched me again, but he is actively backing Malfoy in his bullying. I'm getting incredibly good at deflecting spells wandlessly. Anything else, even just a dispel, gets me in trouble.

Not that I don't still get in trouble, but if I do it subtlety enough I can just act like it missed. I brought the matter up with Professor Flitwick, but nothing happened. Well Dumbledore called me to his office and let Snape insult and yell at me. The entire time sprouting bloody nonsense about forgiveness and trust.

Probably the main reason I put up with it all is the Room of Requirement.

I've pretty much taken over it by this point. I've long since emptied it since I have plenty of space. Added it to the pile of loot in my trunk. I'm not sure how I feel carrying the Diadem, which I know is a Horcrux. At least it's locked away.

The room is set to only accessible by myself and anyone whose hand I'm holding. Anyone else just sees me stepping through a wall. So far I've only taken Hermione, but since she hasn't mastered Occlumency yet I have her wear a blindfold. Then I carry her on my back with the both of us under my invisibility cloak.

It might be considered paranoid, but it was justified. Both Dumbledore and Snape tried using legilimency on me and Hermione detected them using it on her as well.

When I'm not in the Room I leave a house-elf behind with instructions on what the Room should stay as. I can spare one since I managed to convince a several of the ones from the kitchens to bond with me. There is plenty of things to sort and repair in my trunk. And when they finish they can always join Dobbins with the landscaping project. Even with seven house-elves it'll likely take years.

Of course that wasn't the end of it. If anything they got worse.

Malfoy tried hexing right in the Great Hall and sure enough Snape popped up to blame me. And while the staff looked a bit uncomfortable, no one protested.

We started taking our meals in the Room after that, just asking a house-elf to bring us something.

Then Dumbledore called me into his office. He lectured me on how hiding from your problems doesn't work. He talked about trust and other inane things. I wanted to scream.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I can't stand it anymore. Not able to do anything to me Malfoy and the others hexed Hermione. She's in the hospital wing now and I'm on the warpath.

Screw waiting. If Harry Potter had been in this situation he'd have committed suicide. I'm more aggressive.

I wait until curfew before using my invisibility cloak and Marauder's map to sneak out. I make my way to the dungeons where Snape is patrolling. Finding a spot without any paintings. "Imperio."

Snape is an Occlumence, but I have a lot of practice with this spell and I'm using the Elder Wand. He doesn't stand a chance.

I lead him through a secret passage past the wards. "Apparate to Malfoy Manor, Imperio everyone, have them invite me in."

It only takes a few minutes before he returns to get me. Side-along apparition really sucks. Normal apparition is like being squeezed through a tube, a sort of stretched out sensation. Side-along feels like your a tube of toothpaste and someone just stepped on you.

I have the Malfoy's give me Tom Riddle's Diary, their vault key and Dobby. I had to smile at the enthusiastic greeting from the house-elf. I have Dobby transfer the contents of the Malfoy vault into my family vault.

I also have him collect all the goblin made items the Malfoy's own. They should be useful the next time I'm bargaining with Gringotts.

I smile as Lucius writes a letter to his son and places a Withering Curse on it. As soon as it's sent I order them all to stay inside and all cast fiendfyre as soon I leave.

I only make a short jump. I take a moment to watch the flames engulf the manor. That's one problem gone.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Unfortunately I can't stop. Not after having made a move this blatant. Dumbledore will likely suspect me as soon as he hears the news. At the very least he'll try to keep a closer watch over me. And Voldemort might panic once he hears Malfoy Manor burned down.

Suddenly I'm glad I was so lazy. I've been having Nolly, the house-elf I have maintaining the Room, open up passages to where ever I'm standing instead of climbing all the way up to the seventh floor. I didn't even consider Quirrel, or Voldemort rather, realizing I was using the Room.

I sneak back into Hogwarts and while making my way over to the girl's bathroom have Dobby steal me a chicken.

Killing the basilisk was anti-climactic. I opened all three doors with soft hiss, which really does sound like english. My imperiused rooster than crows. And done.

I made sure to swipe my dagger against a dripping fang. Perfect. Now I have my own Horcrux destroyer.

I introduce Dobby to my other elves and have them harvest the basilisk. Dobby is a bit subdued when he finds out how many elves I own, but bursts into tears when I advise them to be careful. And even more when I tell them I trust them enough to buy any tools or equipment they need.

I also have him drop by Diagon Alley and modify my wand holster. I figure I never take that off, but I do take off the gauntlets. It's also a bit small for the whole going into battle theme the gauntlets are meant for.

I don't destroy the diary. I lock it away next to the tiara. After all destroying them while Voldemort is inside the same building just sounds like a horrible idea.

Just two more stops to make before I can sleep.

The first is Quirrel. He's actually sleeping at this point. A fact I envy. He doesn't stay asleep long. I wrench his mouth open and then fire my flamethrower down his throat. I idly note my touch didn't burn him.

Voldemort's spirit rises, looks around and then escapes. Thankfully he can't find me since I stayed under the invisibility cloak.

My last stop is easy. I have Dobby grab the Mirror of Erised and bring it to me. Then I concentrate. Sure enough, the Philosopher's Stone pops into my pocket. Dumbledore's an idiot.

I have Dobby take the mirror back and pour a small back of crushed rubies in front of it. A nice little puzzle for the nosy headmaster.

Good. Only Dumbledore is a potential problem. Well and Fudge. And Voldemort of course. Although he's more vulnerable now. Only the Ring, Locket, Cup and Snake left.

Damn that's a lot.

I head off to sleep.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Breakfast the next morning was surreal. I had actually forgotten about the letter to Draco. When he started screaming I realized I had been a bit impulsive. It wasn't until now that I even wondered of Hogwart's had some kind of detection system for cursed object. Although I guess it's obvious now it doesn't.

Dumbledore cancels classes for the day and sends us off. I duck under the cloak with Hermione to stay behind. She smells really nice. Huh, and she had her teeth shrunk.

Hermione notices my stare and blushes. "Madam Pomphrey was already fixing my teeth. I just had her do a little more."

A touch of legilimency gives me the reason for her defensive tone. So I smile reassuringly at her. Well I smile and then hug her. I'm not really sure how to be reassuring.

She really does smell good. And holding her like this it's not obvious how young she is. Well, except for the fact that she isn't developed.

Hearng the word Voldemort draws my attention to what Dumbledore is saying. "-Voldemort. I fear he was possessing Professor Quirrell. He attempted to steal the stone last night. When it backfired he would no doubt have gone to Severus. He likely wanted to retrieve an item to restore his strength."

"I believe that he chose the Malfoys. When he failed to find the item he eliminated them in his rage. Alas I fear poor Severus may have perished with them."

I listened in disbelief as Dumbledore concocted an elaborate tale from bits and pieces. The scary thing is it's very plausible. For all his faults Dumbledore really is very intelligent. I'm suddenly very glad I'm still young enough to be one of his blind spots.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Dumbledore doesn't do anything. He looks at me a bit closer, but since I started attending meals again it's almost like he's forgotten about me. As if I was that lucky.

I bought all the house-elves the placement agency had available. I have them all copying every book the Room can recreate. If Dumbledore does move against me I don't want to lose access to Hogwart's library.

Even more the Room can recreate any book that has ever been in Hogwarts. Which means the Room's library is much larger than the official one.

I also have them copying and binding into new books notes left behind by people on various projects, including Rowena Ravenclaw's own notes on creating this very room.

Not that I want to leave after reading those. While most of it is way behind me still I can understand enough. It turns out the Room in many ways acts like a pensieve. The room can recreate not just places, but scenes.

I can watch transfiguration lessons that Dumbledore taught fifty years ago. I can watch Slughorn brewing potions. Everyone who has ever taught here. Even the lessons taught by the founders themselves.

It's a priceless wealth of information. And sadly tied to Hogwarts. My own Room won't have these memories. And the notes seem to imply the memories are actually stored in the wards and even the stones.

At this point I'm stuck. I'm not willing to give up the Room and it's memories. Even Hermione isn't as much of an issue.

Between how wrong several of her books were and how the teachers were acting her world view had pretty much shattered. And after that betrayal, she came to rely on me for security and authority. And I've come to find out it's pretty absolute.

Since I don't care about too much I always advocated taking a scientific approach to everything, including what's stated in the books. Hermione adopted my approach with barely any hesitation.

She is still as curious and research obsessed as ever, but socially she has mellowed tremendously. Even if her new slightly detached, clinical personality worries some of the professors.

Personally I don't see a problem. After all, it's not too different from mine.

We tend to spend most of our time together, practicing spells or studying. Often we just read while sharing a couch. It's an odd scene because I used to be very introverted. My merging with Harry Potter seems to have changed that, at least a little. Still, if I leave there's a good chance she'll follow.

Just sitting beside each other is a bit tame, but she still looks way too young for me to be comfortable doing much more. Which is why I find myself using Pet to relieve myself fairly often. And since I'm a bit of a bastard I arrange for her to catch me wanking while moaning her name.

She doesn't respond how I thought she would. Instead of running away she peeks. I do my best to ignore her until I hear a small moan.

Screw it. It's dark enough right now. I use my other arm to flick a silent confundo at her. It didn't do much, just kept her from feeling any fear and ramped up her arousal.

I could tell it worked when she met my eyes. Instead of blushing she licks her lips and then crawls into bed with me. Of course then my stomach growls.

The mood broken we go arm in arm to breakfast.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I may have miscalculated. Badly.

The rest of the day Hermione has been very amorous. Which would be flattering if she wasn't so young! I don't mind too badly kissing her, but she wants to go way beyond that.

I'm an idiot. I sigh as I realize what happened. I'm eleven. Long term planning and risk assessment doesn't fully develop until much later. I'm biologically inclined to be impulsive. Which I really should have remembered before this.

Thankfully she doesn't protest too much when I say I need to sneak out to Gringotts and leave right after dinner. I actually do need to leave, but not to go to Gringotts.

Instead I'm there to buy contract paper. Most magical contracts aren't done using fancy artifacts, but with a sheet of specially enchanted paper. I'd looked a few options but using a contract to subtly steer her behavior seems my best bet. And of course with a simple confundus, and the elder wand, I can redirect the contract to whoever I want.

It ends up more complicated than I first thought. I go through the entire stack of contract paper and end up just buying their entire supply. I can always use it later.

It's pretty late when I'm satisfied. I have rules, conditional modifiers and many more. Doubtless I'll eventually burn most or even all of them, but I want to be thorough.

When I get back I collapse into my bed. I did not expect Hermione to crawl in after me.


	3. Hermione

Chapter 3 Hermione

When I feel Hermione crawl under the blankets at first I tense. I figured she would approach me in the morning. Not tonight.

I stop thinking when her hand reached down. I had been working on her contracts all evening. Another way to say that was that I was thinking about Hermione sexually for the past several hours.

When she started stroking me I stopped caring about resisting.

She ends up spending the night. And since it was the weekend we spend the next two days in bed as well.

We didn't have sex. In fact we didn't really do more than touch. Of course a lot is covered by just touching. And Hermione seemed like she wanted to try them all.

I never expected Hermione to end up addicted to pleasuring me. Not that I minded. Much. It was all to easy to bury my face in her hair and just let myself feel.

The single contract I wrote for myself may have been a bad idea. How was I supposed to know making myself so responsive was a bad idea. I figured she'd need the help.

That Monday I was exhausted. Hermione on the other hand was all bubbly and affectionate. She didn't try to snog me or anything. At least the contracts did that much right. But she dragged me back to my room every free period and even during History of Magic class to give me more hand jobs.

That night I stunned her and went through the contracts. All of them. Very carefully. And found absolutely nothing.

Apparently this was all her. Huh.

Using legilimency I think I figured it out, at least mostly. Hermione has always been alone. She relied on books and teachers to try to fill the gap friends should have. And one of the main insults used against her was her appearance.

My breaking her world view left her with only a single anchor. Me. Combined with the physical affection, hormones, and a bunch of other stuff and she ended up completely devoted to me.

In some ways, many ways, she was my Bellatrix.

As I watch her sleep I wonder if all dark lords end up with a loyal female servant. Voldemort has Bellatrix, Dumbledore has McGonagall, and now I have Hermione.

Not many will agree with me, but that just shows me how thoroughly Dumbledore had lied to everyone. After all he's completely willing to sacrifice people for his goals. Sure he doesn't kill them himself, but everyone has quirks. Voldemort is a bit too in love with torture, Dumbledore doesn't like to get his hands dirty.

To me they're just two dark lords with differing methods to try and rule the wizarding worlds. And I suppose with how I'm building my own dedicated resource base and with my methods I'd be a third. At least if anyone knew about it.

At least this gives me a way to manage Hermione. As devoted as she is I can just command her. She should be responding to social ques from me, but somehow I doubt she's recognizing them.

I wake her up and we start hashing out a set of behavior guidelines. Which somehow starts turning into some kind of written relationship contract.

When I wake up the next morning I stare at the document in disbelief. It was something I associated with sitcoms. It's ridiculous.

I also realize I was too gentle last night. Although I blame being tired. Clearly polite suggestions are giving her way too much leeway.

I wonder if the other two dark lords ever had this problem.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Christmas comes about and Dumbledore very regretfully explains to me how Sirius is still being treated in St. Mungos. I barely refrain from killing him when he suggests trying to get to know this world's Dursleys.

Why is Dumbledore trying to set me up as a martyr when I'm not a Horcrux?

Whatever. I agree and get out of there. Of course I was lying. I didn't even board the train. I have errands to run.

One of the first things I read in the Room was the notes Dumbledore used to summon me with. It was surprisingly simple. Lots of complicated parts, but the conditions were simple. You make a list of conditions, no more than three. Then you cast the spell. It summons someone.

The part that concerns me is that it mentions that the less integrated someone is to their dimension the easier they are to summon. Dumbledore wrote a note indicating he thought it meant ties like a prophecy. I'm pretty sure it had something to do with the fact that I body-snatched Harry Potter.

And having been in three different dimensions, I bet I'm even more likely to be summoned in the future. The only upside, and it's a small one, is that I'm probably tied to this dimension by the prophecy. I'm not likely to remain long after the prophecy is fulfilled though.

I'm not certain though. Which is the only reason I'm currently running rampant throughout the world trying to stealing everything.

So I need to be loaded for dragon as they say.

I have a number of appointments I've been arranging the last couple of weeks. The first was a portrait painter. I had an enormous number of questions about paintings and their limitations. He was all to eager to answer everything. After all I had agreed to let him paint me return.

I was ecstatic. This is what I had been looking for. It was almost perfect. The only downside was that it wouldn't work on muggles. Which just means I need to start another project.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Sirius hadn't been sure what was going on at first. Being removed from his cell so suddenly had been disorienting. Especially since he had long since given up hope.

In a daze he had gone through the trial, half expecting them to just use it as an excuse to mock him before sticking him back in his cell.

Instead they brought out witnesses. They brought Pettigrew. The traitor.

He wasn't sure what happened after that. He had an impression of red and... noise? All he knows was he woke up wrapped in chains and with a headache.

And suddenly he was free!

And since Pettigrew was already on his way to Azkaban, hopefully to be put in the same cell he had been in, it was time to find his godson.

Except he wasn't free.

He had to spend time in the hospital. The healers there were supposed to make him better. But how can he rest when he was so worried about Harry? And no one would tell him about anything.

Remus showed up. It was good to see him. It was wrong to have suspected him. Dunderhead.

They talked and it was like before. And he had Moony back. Except he wasn't a Marauder. He wanted Padfoot to follow the rules. To stay safe. To stop asking about Harry.

To trust Dumbledore.

Remus wasn't Moony. Sirius really was alone. He had lost the last of his friends. Not to death or spies or jail. To Dumbledore, who had stolen Harry away. He still remembered Hagrid taking Harry away from him. On Dumbledore's orders!

Sirius realized he was still in jail. He just had a nicer cell.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I stop by Hermione's place on Christmas Eve. Her parents are very formal. It makes me wonder if the reason she hugs people so enthusiastically in the books is that she doesn't get enough of them at home.

Not that it matters. Whatever the cause for Hermione's love of physical affection, she's mine now.

I drop off her present with a flourish. Fittingly for a gift from me to her it's a library trunk. Of course it's also heavily enchanted. It contains a whole host of features including shrinking and expanding with a touch of her wand. In the card I apologized there wasn't an indexing feature.

I wonder how long it'll take her to create one?

I hadn't been there more than minute before an owl dropped off a note. It was a warning for performing underage magic. Wow. Their detectors really suck if they thought my wandless apparition was a school kid casting a spell.

I grab the note. No sense putting this off. I kiss her, only on the cheek since her parents are there, and promise to get it taken care of. Than I have Dobbins apparate away. No sense getting her in trouble twice.

I swing by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I already knew apparating without a license is only punished with a fine. Since I wasn't using a wand I didn't actually count as using underage magic either.

I let the Auror at the counter take my holly wand and am happy he doesn't even check for more. I ask for directions to the Improper Use of Magic office since that's where the note came from.

I was surprised to find only a single person working there. I guess it is Christmas Eve. "Hello. Madam Hopkirk? I'm here to clear up the issue of this note."

The woman glared grumpily at me. "And just who do you think you are?"

"I'm Harry Potter." It's always interesting to see the extreme actions people take when they here that. "Hermione Granger did not use any magic. I did. I apparated over to her home. However since I wasn't using a wand at the time I broke no laws."

She looks at me with disbelief. "Nonsense. No child can apparate, much less wandlessly. If you're going to lie at least make it believable."

I glare and surge my magic. The office, kept dim to make it easier to see when the detector lights up, is tinted green. "So if I show you I can apparate you'll remove it from her record?"

Madam Hopkirk shakily nods. Good enough.

I focus and concentrate on a spot a few feet to the side. It's a lot harder to apparate under pressure. I wonder if it's nerves. I can't afford to fail though. I picture Hopkirk's smug face and her calling me a liar and use the surge of anger to push even harder.

With a loud crack I apparate over to the other side of her office. There! I did it. I guess it really was just nerves.

And that's when the alarms went off.

Hopkirk ignores me, running off somewhere. I can see a lot people shouting and running all over the place. It's pretty much chaos. Damn it. Screw it. I'll try to Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Amelia Bones heads that and she was pretty reasonable in the books.

I trip the next panicking office drone for directions. When he ignored me I kicked him between the legs. I thanked him politely when he finally gave me directions. Hopefully he won't realize I stole his wand for awhile.

The DMLE is busy, but at least they're organized. They seem to be organizing a search or patrols from the little I can hear. The entrance is even being guarded. And of course he tries to stop me. It's just that kind of day.

I'm really glad he isn't wearing dragon hide robes. Duro. I watch as his robes turn to stone and he staggers under the weight. Stupefy.

Unfortunately that caught a lot of attention and every auror there pointed their wands at me. So annoying. I drop the wand and raise my hands. "Can I please see Madam Bones now?"

I answer a few questions, but after finding out who I am they're more than willing to pass me up the chain.

Madam Bone's office is surprisingly full. With people I sorta of recognize too. There's Amelia Bones with her monocle, Cornelius Fudge with his green hat and Delores Umbridge in bright pink. Rufus Scrimgeour from his hair and Kingsley because he's the only person there with black skin are maybes.

They all stop talking when I enter to stare at me. Fudge is the first to react. "Good evening Harry. I'm sorry to say you've come at a bad time. I'll be more than happy to talk with you after this emergency has passed."

"I'm sorry minister." I probably don't sound like it, but it pays to at least try to be polite. "I'm here to speak with Madam Bones about this." I wave the underage magic violation notice at them.

"And is there a reason young Mr Potter is complaining about having to follow the rules?" And wow. Umbridge's voice just drips sickly sweet sarcasm and condescension.

I decide to just ignore her. Killing her with this many witnesses will doubtless cause problems. "Madam. I'm here to pay my fine for apparating without a licence and to apologize for accidentally destroying the ministry wards when the department head ordered me to show him I could apparate. She didn't tell me there were wards in the way."

I try to sound as innocent as possible. I then pour a small mountain of gold onto the desk. "I've only apparated twice times so far. Please let me know when I've used it all."

"Oh and please make sure to get rid of this." I place the letter on the desk. "It was caused by me but since I didn't use a wand it doesn't break any laws. Well other than the fine. Which I just paid."

I wait a second but I seem to have stunned them. "Well, have a nice day."

I wave cheerfully as I apparate away. I could literally see the greed in Fudge's eyes. No way was I going to stay around him.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Idly I wonder if they're bothering to track me now in order to decide when I've used up the gold or if Fudge just gave me an exemption and kept the gold. Not like it matters. I'm only going to the Leaky Cauldron.

I use my invisibility cloak to sneak up to the private rooms. I don't want anyone knowing I'm meeting anyone here. I don't even bother speaking. I look around the room, casting several revealing spells. I've had a lot of practice, especially this year. I ignore the woman sitting at the table. Once I'm sure we're alone, I silence the room before pointing my wand at her. "Imperio."

As I leave I feel like whistling. Rita is going to be major help. Not only have I protected myself from her, she can drum up public support for whatever I need. Of course for that to work she'll need to be even more popular than ever. But I have a plan for that.

First I give her the story of Dumbledore's theory over Voldemort's rampage. Combined with the information on how Dumbledore deliberately lured Voldemort into the school using the Philosopher's Stone and Harry Potter as bait? She has enough material for weeks.

I actually plan for her to lay low after that. She'll be too busy researching to write much for the newspapers. I want her to write a book. I want it to come out at the end of next year and it'll be all about our next Defense Against the Dark Arts instructor, Gilderoy Lockhart.

I even have a name for it. A Life of Lies. The first in a trilogy. I plan on faking a reign of terror from a false Heir of Slytherin in order to keep the events fairly accurate to what happens in the books.

And the events will lead naturally into the second book. This one about Tom Marvolo Riddle. A small animation charm every once in awhile briefly rearranging the letter into I Am Lord Voldemort should catch plenty of attention.

The third book will of course be Albus Dumbledore. Truthfully it was this book that was one of the reasons I hadn't killed him yet. I want him to live long enough to see his reputation destroyed.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I end up dropping by Gringotts to set up a mail direct for myself. They remove the one already in place, which I bet is Dumbledore's doing, and place another one. Now I have a mobile mail box that works remarkably like a vanishing cabinet. It's not cheap, but it's perfectly safe and secure. Definitely worth it even without Dobby to steal my mail this summer.

Seeing the goblins reminds me of my gear. While I don't really feel like adding anything to it right now I do have a few related ideas. In particular magical armor for my future minions.

It doesn't help that there doesn't seem to be any research at all on magical armor so I'm making it up as I go. Wizards seem to have discovered dragon hide robes and just decided good enough, then stopped looking. Even the goblins geared everything towards the magical side. They use silver for their base material!

Dragon hide is very spell resistant. It's about as useful as clothes against bullets though. I read a theory somewhere that wizard-kind went into hiding due to the rising use of firearms. Seeing how easily bullets tear through dragon hide I can believe it.

Even the supposed indestructible goblin silver isn't that much better. It turns out indestructible only applies to magical means. I pay for a suit of goblin mail, promising to return it within a week. Instead I was back the next day. The goblins were upset, impressed and just a little afraid after that. My refusal to explain how I destroyed the armor didn't help.

It wasn't even that hard. Sure goblin armor will stop a blade, but so will plate mail. It was pretty useless against a rifle though.

I guess I should be impressed to it at least stopped some small caliber weapons, but instead I was crushed. I had dreams about indestructible war machines that could survive even nuclear bombardment. Only to find national guardsman could bring one down.

Well, one idea down. Time to try another.

I have a few actually, all based off conjuration. At least there had been studies on conjuration. My next idea seemed workable, even if it was very complicated.

The concept was simple. What I plan to do was create armor that was made of layers of overlapping plates. When a plate is damaged it's ejected and a pristine duplicate is conjured that slides into place. With regenerating ablative armor plating nothing less than a single, very powerful attack will penetrate the armor.

Thankfully the ceramic armor plates I was thinking of using exist already. Even better they were invented in Britain and still in use. The issue was that they were made of several different layers, making conjuring them incredibly difficult.

So I end up cheating. I already made extensive use of the gemino charm in my guns. Why not my armor? Between space expansion and gemino charms I should be able to achieve the same effect. The best part is this will allow me to enchant the plates, making them even more effective.

Sadly that was as far as I could take it by myself. I just didn't know enough to go further. Which shelves that project for now. Besides it's not like I even have anyone to test it even if I could make it.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

It was that last thought that had inspired me. After all no point designing equipment before I have minions to use it. And since soldiers require training, I should get started as soon as possible.

There are many magical races scattered throughout the world. All of them pretty much under the control of the wizarding world too. Few voluntarily. And given how the wizarding world treats almost everyone, I might be able to find allies among them.

I sneak back into the castle early in order to research the different races. There's a lot of information and much of it's contradictory. Worse prejudice heavily biases most books, making them even more inaccurate.

Surprisingly it's Dumbledore who provides me with the information I need. His notes on possible allies for the Order of the Phoenix are concise, well organized and very detailed. More importantly, they address specific grievances and issues for each group along with what would appeal to them.

Since the prejudiced wizarding laws are still around I doubt he made much progress. But I can make great use of them. Well some of them.

As I go through the notes I can't help but notice just how many of those species seem to prefer to prey on humans. I'm actually surprised the wizards haven't made more of an effort to wipe some of them out.

Still there are at least some I can potentially use. While none of them are particularly impressive, just getting a loyal population will be a significant boost right now.

Still, there's no hurry. Christmas break is almost over and I have plenty of time to research the issue more before the summer begins and I can really start recruiting.

And of course I need actual areas for them to inhabit first.

Which is slow going. Dragon dung is expensive in the amounts I had originally planned and it turns out just digging up and taking large amounts of the ground is a crime. And I can't just dump money into the issue since governments track both gold and large amounts of money.

I sigh at yet another project stalled. Or at least progressing way too slowly.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

I snuck back out of the castle in order to meet Hermione at King's Cross. Besides I need to ride the train back if I don't want Dumbledore to become suspicious.

I greeted her parents who thanked me both for clearing up the misunderstanding with the ministry as well as all the pictures Hermione was sending back. Since I had forgotten about the camera I assume Dobbins was responsible for that. I really need to do something nice for him.

Hermione hugged me and then all but dragged me into the first empty compartment we came across. As soon as I sat down she crawled into my lap. Even as she buried her face in my neck her hands are reaching into my robes.

Normally I dislike the student robes. There are plenty of things I'd rather wear. Right now though I only care about one of it's advantages. They open from the front.

I cast a Notice-Me-Not charm at the door and window. No reason to give anyone else a show.

I close my eyes as I wrap my arms around her. "I take it that you that you opened your trunk?"

Hermione doesn't reply verbally, her mouth too busy trying to give me a hickey. But the way her efforts become even more enthusiastic is answer enough. She knows exactly what I like which isn't surprising given how practice she's had. The contract granting her a faint echo of what I experience at her hands probably also helped.

It wasn't long before we were both shuddering together in pleasure. She stays in my lap, slowly caressing me in the way that I love. If there is one contract I am never going to cancel, it's echo sensation. It was only the sound of the sweets trolley woman that had me realize just how much time has passed.

Eventually she leans back and with a few very practiced waves of her wand cleans up. I wonder if she even realizes she's using those spells non-verbally? I cancel the Notice-Me-Not charms. After the past couple of hours I'm feeling ravenous.

After the cart left Hermione was more than willing to continue, but I wasn't. While I admit I enjoyed her efforts, and maybe needed them after the frustrating past week, I errands to run on the train.

The next few hours were spent wandering up and down the train talking to the seventh year students. I restricted myself to only those in Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. Slytherin didn't have any muggleborn and Gryffindor was likely too closely allied with Dumbledore.

The exception was the Weasley twins. I hand them over a contract I had been working on for awhile. My terms were simple enough. I wanted to finance them. I had thought pretty hard about the terms and wanted something even their parents wouldn't object too.

So I offer to pay them 50 galleons each month they're in Hogwarts. A bonus of 100 galleons each for every O they achieved on their OWL tests, not counting Divination and Muggle Studies. And an additional thousand galleons when they leave school.

In return I wanted to be a partner, owning a third of their shop or company. More importantly I wanted them to create and maintain a grimoire. A compilation of their accumulated research. And I wanted access to it.

The potential information alone makes it worthwhile. And while I've spent the majority of my gold, I had recently gotten ahold of the Malfoy fortune.

The rest of the students I was much more passive in dealing with. I asked about their future plans and job prospects. Then I gave them my pitch.

It was simple. If you have trouble finding a job, contact Madam Sprout with your test results. I'm thinking of hiring some people for personal projects and she'll coordinate any hiring.

I chose her for two reasons. The first was that most of the muggleborns go to Hufflepuff. They'll be much more likely to trust her. And the second was she was never a follower of Dumbledore in the books. Given how he gives Snape free reign he obviously doesn't actually care about the students, despite what he claims. Even the Ravenclaws didn't mind after I explained my reasoning.

I actually ended up hiring two students almost immediately. The first student I hired was a Hufflepuff, Warwick Stimpson. He had a younger sister in third year and a reputation as very hard working. From the questions he asked me he was also worried about money. It was actually his idea to start working for me right away.

It didn't take me more than a moment to realize how valuable an assistant could be. Hermione was too young and we were both busy with our studies. Someone who can start the process of hiring more people for any projects I eventually come up with will be invaluable. Even better he'll know many of the people I want to hire.

He agrees to work for me for the same amount I was paying the Weasley twins, which seems a bit low. He seems happy with it though. I even have a task for him. I want him to start contacting students who wanted to become healers and aurors but couldn't due to their potion grades. Ideally I wanted at least five of each.

Inspired by my progress I ended up hiring a second student. This time a Ravenclaw, Eliza Anwar, who several people had pointed out as having the best note taking skills in the house. Her notes are concise, very well worded and extremely well organized.

She was only a sixth year, but her notes were even purchased by seventh years for review. I hired her to work on an idea I had a few months back. A book based off the chocolate frog cards. I pay her to conduct the research and write the book and even offer to split the profits. I also buy copies of all of her notes which will make Hermione happy.

I return to my compartment to find Hermione nibbling at a chocolate frog while reading one of the books I had left her in her library trunk. Giving her a copy of every single edition of Hogwarts: A History was one of my better ideas. Not only is it her favorite book, seeing how information is distorted or changed will reinforce my previous confunduses.

And it didn't even cost me anything. There were thousands of outdated books in the Room. It was nice to find a use for some of them.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The rest of the trip passed quietly. Without Malfoy, no one stops by to bother me. Well, Ron tried, but a quick Confundo sends him chasing after the sweets trolley.

Ron's becoming a problem. He keeps trying to befriend me. The problem is he does it by trying to drive away Hermione. While I appreciate how it drives her closer to me, it's still irritating. Worse the lingering layered imperio's aren't enough to distract him anymore.

Most likely because of Dumbledore. Trying to influence me through my friends. Maybe weaken me by sabotaging my studies. I wonder if he realized all of his efforts are backfiring?

My thought are interrupted when we enter the Great Hall and I see two new faces. And one of them I recognize. Auror Kingsley.

I grin when Dumbledore announces that both Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts will be taught by aurors Kingsley and Proudfoot, both on loan from the ministry. I'm betting my visit there has something to do with this. Maybe Madam Bones wants to keep an eye on me?


	4. Progress

Chapter 4 Progress

I was impressed with the move to have aurors take over the two classes that needed it. It seemed an elegant solution, especially since those classes are needed to qualify for an auror. I'd think it was Dumbledore except he'd never approve of a ministry employee teaching in Hogwarts.

I was less impressed by the distinct lack of fake anonymous package containing my families invisibility cloak. Either Dumbledore figured since the Harry Potter here was dead so he could keep it or he didn't give it to me since I wouldn't need it to run his gauntlet in the third corridor. Maybe a bit of both.

What was in my room after the break was Hermione. She pretty much moved in with me. I thought I was going to have to arrange some elaborate contracts with the prefects in order to hide the fact Hermione wasn't sleeping in her room anymore.

Nope. Turns out the prefects only check to see if your door is close. Which seems negligent. Then I realize this is Ravenclaw. Luna Lovegood gets bullied for years in here. And either no one notices, including the prefects, or they don't care.

It helps that Occlumency has reduced our need for sleep. We're both up and about well before anyone else so no one ever sees us leaving in the morning.

You'd think I'd be getting annoyed with Hermione by spending even more time together, but it's the opposite. I sleep much easier with her warm body wrapped around me, the scent of her hair filling my nose. And of course her hands moving under my jim-jams.

The only downside, was that I dislike the smell of bruise-removal paste. While I enjoyed the process of Hermione giving me love bites, I didn't want to attention displaying them would bring.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Classes with the new professors were interesting. The aurors were very professional. While they didn't have the flair that made a great teacher they were still far superior than what we had before.

Other than the quality of our lessons though, Hermione and my routine weren't affected too much. We went to class, occasionally ate a meal in the Great Hall and spent most of our time in the Room of Requirement.

My new employees actually affected me far more. Warwick Stimpson took less than two weeks to find almost twenty people who met my requirements. More than I expected, but not unwelcome.

That weekend I snuck out to meet with them. We met at the Leaky Cauldron, renting private rooms.

The meeting was interesting. They were all largely disillusioned with the wizarding world and it's bigotry. None of them have been able to obtain more than entry level positions and most were trying to make it in the muggle world.

For the would-be aurors I offered a simple deal. I will provide tutoring in potions and some other training. Afterwards they'll undergo full auror training, which typically takes three years. While they're doing all of that I'll provide housing and other amenities.

Afterwards they work for me for five years. After that they can sign on with the actual aurors or stay working for me. I won't force them to commit illegal acts. And I mostly intend to use them as very loyal security since I'm going to layer them in vows.

The ones who wanted to be healers get a similar offer. Potions tutoring and support during training. And afterwards they work for me for five years.

Surprisingly all of them signed up. Eleven future aurors and eight future healers.

Huh.

I give them a time next week to meet up and leave the enough money to stay at the Cauldron if they want to. Then I head to Gringotts.

I don't spend much time there. I pay a premium to rush a construction job. I buy a massive chunk of land on the edges of Hogsmeade, essentially distorting the shape of the town. Then I have them set up a dormitory. Just in case I make it forty rooms. It also has a kitchen, dining hall and a few study areas. And most importantly three potion labs.

I also have the goblins heavily ward the property. I don't want anyone entering without an invitation from me.

Recruiting their tutor was the easiest part. Horace Slughorn is a potion master and used to teach at Hogwarts. He retired ten years ago. He is also very fond of the finer things in life. He can also practically smell opportunity. A true Slytherin.

He could see the potential of what I was offering. And the opportunity to personally increase his influence was vast. Especially if I continued recruiting and expanded in other directions, which I admitted I intended too. I had already ordered a few greenhouses and another dorm for the herbologists Dobbins was working with.

The fact I was Harry Potter helped. Not to mention the very generous salary I offered. He jumped at my job offer. Even the secrecy oaths didn't faze him. Likely because they only lasted for two years. In fact he bargained to have two of the room turned into a suite so that he could move in. Something I didn't mind at all.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Horace, as he insisted I call him, turned out to be an even larger boon that I anticipated. He was easily able to discretely introduce me to a few highly skilled people who I was able to hire. And just like that several ideas I had turned into full projects.

I spend quite a bit of the Malfoy fortune setting the first one up. Magical portraits are typically shallow impressions of the person they represent. Infusing memories and other techniques can be used to render them more life-like. However that process takes months of effort.

So I cheated. I decided to make the portrait use legilimency and copy the memories into itself. Which would normally be impossible. Except I have access to Rowena Ravenclaw's notes about creating the Sorting Hat, Room of Requirement and her famous Diadem. With them it was simple. Less than a month later I have a unique magical item.

It looks like a silver easel. Which it was. What it did though was insidious. It was also an amazing piece of magic. Too bad I was forced to place them all under the Imperius to get them to create it.

The easel is meant to be placed next to the person being painted. Then the artist paints them over a few hours. During that time the easel is both creating a duplicate of the portrait and imbuing it with all of the subjects memories.

Since the copy is created inside a hidden expanded compartment the painter doesn't even have to know about it. A fact I take shameless advantage of. Somehow word had spread that someone was hiring muggleborns and Warwick was getting quite a bit of mail.

I have Warwick write back to all of them, asking for anyone who was interested in art. I arrange a number of meetings with them and Eliza. Then I have them each paint a portrait of her. Officially it was to compare them against each other. I even let Eliza keep the one of them.

The real reason, besides getting the best artist, is the copies of Eliza. I need her note taking ability in particular. And now I have fifteen copies of it.

I take each portrait as soon as I can over to the Room.

It was one of my largest sources of frustration. The fact that I won't have access to the accumulate wealth of memories in Hogwarts. I already have the Room recreating books for my house-elves to create. Now I can do more.

Using dicta-quills, never ending ledgers and a few minor charms built into the portrait frames I set each portrait up inside a small room in which lessons are replayed. I figure one notebook for each year level per teacher per subject. It will likely amount to an entire library by itself.

Considering the portraits don't get tired, they can go through a month's or more worth of lessons in a day. By the time I leave I should have entire centuries worth of notes. Including for subjects no longer taught.

Arranging for pictures and illustrations to be added to the notes took more work, but was necessary. Just this part of the project ended up taking enough time that it wasn't until the end of the semester that it was all running smoothly.

Thankfully the second part of the project was much easier to put into play. In fact it barely took any work on my part.

I simply hired the painter who Eliza liked the best to go around and paint each of the shop owners in Diagon Alley and a number of other places. Officially it was a publicity stunt to advertise his skill. As such it was being done for free as long as he was able to put his signature in the corner.

And of course all of his work was done on the silver easel he was presented with as a gift upon being hired. The wizarding world leans heavily towards small family businesses. Which means lots of secret family spells and techniques. Which will all be mine as soon as the portraits are done.

I have Dobby keep an eye on the artist. He makes sure to remove the second portraits as they're done and storing them in my trunk. As soon as the artist is done with my list I'll have Dobby switch his easel for a normal silver one.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

And like that the semester ended. It caught me by surprise. I had been so busy between all the meetings for my projects and studying with Hermione that I had lost track of time.

Part of it was my fault. I took to having the Room give me copies of old student assignments in order to make finishing mine quicker. Hermione was outraged at first. Until she realized that our Occlumency meant we still learned the information just as thoroughly. Better even since I usually used at least three papers that had been marked an O for inspiration.

The Room really is the most amazing thing ever.

The changes I've made to Hermione, combined with the contracts are self-sustaining now. Which is good since she's mastering Occlumency faster than I am. The advantages of my age are more than off-set by how much more time she can devote to it since she doesn't have countless meetings distracting her.

Without having to worry about assignment and owning a set of notes from Eliza hardly had to pay attention. The fact that I was already well into third year spells in my own training also helped. It'd be farther but I was also working mastering them non-verbally and even wandlessly.

As such the exams were a breeze. While I'm sure I did fine, Hermione is stressed afterwards. Worried she didn't do well enough. I'm not quite sure why. Doubtless her marks will be higher than mine.

After all I just can't bring myself to care enough to try as hard as she does on assignments. It probably doesn't help that she hasn't been able to progress as far as I have magically.

While Hermione can cast non-verbally just fine she can't seem to make the mental leap necessary to wandless magic. Not that I can blame her. Everything they teach here makes it sound all but impossible.

I just have a distinct advantage in that I wasn't born with magic. While it isn't uncomfortable, it's different enough for me to feel the energy moving inside me. From the notes the Room provided that kind of awareness usually takes decades to develop.

If I was running the school I'd teach non-verbal magic from second year. Then in third year start teaching wandless magic. Although the ministry might not like it just because it can't be monitored by the trace.

The Trace. Now that's a misleading name. A basic magic detection charm combined with a tracker. Paired with another near the homes of muggleborn students. And completely worthless once someone knows the secret. Remove the tracker and the detector doesn't light up.

Or you can just use another wand.

Before school lets out I lend her Hedwig to let her parents know they don't have to pick her up. I don't see any reason we should take the train just to sit by ourselves for seven hours.

So as soon as we leave the wards I side-along apparate Hermione over to her parent's home. I grimace and she throws up when we land. I forgot about that part. I had an iron stomach so the nausea hadn't bothered me much. I hold her hair back as she loses what looks like the entire leaving feast.

"Dobbins! Please bring me a glass of water and another of pumpkin juice." he nods and vanishes the mess before returning. I wonder if he got it from Hogwarts?

Hermione's parents open the door in time to see her chug the second glass. She's a bit wobbly on her feet and leaning heavily against me. She turns and glares at me. "What was that! It was horrible!"

Her parents laugh at the sight of her berating me. Startled she looks around. I guess she hadn't realized where she was. I chuckle and wink when she goes back to glaring. "That was side-along apparition. I'm sorry I forgot to warn you. Its supposed to be rougher than normal apparition."

That probably didn't help. She's glaring harder now. "You're body gets used to it quickly... At least you're home now?"

Hermione holds her glare for a moment before suddenly hugging me then turning to leave. "I'm going to go brush my teeth."

I'm pretty sure her parents are laughing at me now. Whatever. I shrug and apparate away. I have a plane to catch.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Flying inside a plane is horribly boring. Computers haven't advanced far enough to let me play any games. DVDs don't exist so I can't watch any movies. And worst of all I can't read any of my books in case someone sees it.

The last is partially my fault for not looking up the charms to make an object look normal to muggles. Something for which I'm kicking myself now. Bored I practice my wandless legilimency on everyone around me.

It's slow going. Unlike wizards or witches, muggle memories are from their own point of view. People have vastly different ways of looking at the world and the switch in views is jarring. It's not normally an obvious difference aside from height. It's subtle. A focus on specific colors, which movements that catch attention, objects that are more important so are focused on. It's horribly disorienting.

As different as I used to be, this would have been impossible. Integrating Harry's memories both made it possible to relate to others as well as gave me experience with memories with a different view.

Still, this is good practice. So I keep it up despite my rapidly growing headache. I don't linger too long in any one mind. It'll look suspicious if I just stare at someone. Besides it's good training for passive legilimency.

I pick up a few useful tidbits of information. While not really very useful they at least give me a better handle on the state of the world I'm in. After all, I had been a child last time these events took place. Although I guess I'm still technically a child.

I feels odd hearing about people thinking how they're glad the Cold War is finally over. That was history by the time I cared enough about the rest of the world for it to matter. The Disney theme park in France was only slightly interesting, along with all the drama over the royal family.

Hearing how excited people were that Microsoft just came out with version 3.1 along with Works just depressed me. Which is why I ended up sleeping the rest of the trip.

At least with aging potions no one commented on me traveling by myself.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Egypt is hot, dry and dusty. Just like I expected. It was a good thing I wasn't there for vacation. No I'm here for sand.

I had an epiphany concerning my landscaping project. I needed soil. And lots of it. Rich soil too.

Except I don't.

The difference between great soil and normal or poor soil is nutrients. However muggles have things like Miracle Gro and other liquid fertilizers. And the wizarding world has things like refilling charms and ever-full runes.

And a quick trip to a muggle library gave the information I needed. Soil is a combination of small particles like clay and silt, larger particles like sand, nutrients, and organic material.

Sand is the one resource I won't be able to gather in large enough quantities back in Britain. In Africa though I just need a disillusion charm. A quick trip into the Sahara and a nice little ritual that combines a summoning charm and the packing spell and I was done.

The entire sand dune I was standing on was sucked into the trunk and guided into the designated compartment. Happy I checked to see just how much I had gotten. It was depressing to realize the large dune I selected covered the compartment in maybe a foot of sand.

I almost felt like crying. I didn't but it was close. I did decide to just concentrate on getting a handful of levels finished rather that trying to convert most of them. I can always spread out later. Thinking about it I was probably over-ambitious trying to set everything up at once.

It was still hot exhausting work. I wanted a layer of soil around thirty feet deep, which meant I needed around five to ten feet of sand. Which was a lot of dunes.

At least the ritual wasn't tiring. It was just mentally stressful from the concentration needed. At least I was only casting it at night. Trying it under the scorching sun would have been horrible.

I spent weeks deep in the desert. Performing rituals for hours until my head was splitting from the pain. I staggered off to bed and slept while Dobbins moved the camp to a new spot. Then I repeated the process.

It was miserable work. It was too hot when I started, despite the sun being down. Then it was freezing. The air was dry enough I had to constantly sip to keep my voice from going out.

I stopped when Dobbins let me know I finally had enough sand. I stared when he let me know that I now had five thousand levels, which he called habitats, supplied with enough sand to turn into farmland.

What? I was going to stop after maybe five. I don't need thousands of habitats. I can't even make use of that many! Why didn't he stop me earlier?

Dobbins explanation left me crying. In shock, disbelief, frustration, or even something more.

I had forgotten to tell Dobbins about my decision to limit the project to a few habitats. 

**O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

At lest my time in Africa came with some good news.

My team of enchanters of runecrafts had finished the next project I had given them. I felt a bit sorry that I was basically enslaving them. However hey represented too large a point of vulnerability. They were proof I used an Unforgivable. But they were all extremely talented. And unlike their portraits, could still learn and invent.

Before I boarded the plane I had given them their next project. It was much simpler as well. I wanted a device that can create a pocket of air like the bubble-head charm. I wanted two types. One that can be worm by a house-elf and a second that can be fitted to a trunk.

Since they finished the enchanted collars and I was still in Africa I went to the Aswan Dam. It was in Egypt and actually blocked the Nile river, turning part of it into a lake. Even better all dams had sediment deposit buildups and Aswan had been in place for decades.

I tried my hand at fishing while I waited. Some company had seeded the lake with fish and set up a processing plants and a small fleet of fishing boats. The area was uninhabited though so it was easy enough to find a spot.

Fishing, I swiftly concluded, is boring. Maybe if I had some beer it'd help. As it was I stopped after a few minutes and started reading. At least I had time to read again now that I wasn't stuck constantly performing rituals.

All of my elves worked. They took turns wearing the collars and dredging the lake. I have them be thorough too. I had thousands of floors with sand already, no point holding back.

My elves cleared out all the sediment build up, which will likely puzzle some scientists later on. Then they stripped the lake bed of it's soil. And then they stripped the lake shores.

It was not a fast process. House-elves are powerful. They were not dump trucks though. Constantly moving tons of soil wore them out fairly quickly. They could work for maybe an hour or two before being exhausted.

I didn't mind. I ordered them to take their time and get plenty of rest. I don't want any of them to get hurt or worse, die. Since Dobbins had been in charge of what I'd ended up calling the terraforming project I place him in charge.

I also confirm him as my head elf. And since I need to do something for Dobby I name him my personal elf. After all loyalty such as theirs should be rewarded.

Then I go visit Hermione.

 **O oooo - ooo - oo - o - O - o - oo - ooo – oooo O**

Loneliness was a concept I only understood intellectually. At least until recently. Now I find myself missing Hermione. It's a weird feeling. Like being hungry for people, but not in a cannibalistic way.

I never felt it before. I missed people. But not emotionally. It was more like seeing a Rubik's Cube with half the sides completed. You get this mental itch to solve it. And that's how I feel about people.

Except Hermione. I know how she'll react most of the time and I still want to see her. It's disconcerting. I don't have a reason not to right now though. So I apparate to her backyard and walk around to knock on her door.

Hermione is ecstatic to see me, immediately barreling into me for a rib-cracking hug. From the ground I wave at her parents. "Hello Mr and Mrs Granger."

They invite me in and I was quick to accept and get off the ground. I had taken to wearing my robes in Africa since they had all the comfort charms on them. It would likely have been even worse there without them. Right now I'm glad they serve another function. They hide my erection.

I hadn't even thought about it, but part of my frustration could have been sexual. After all the rituals had left me in enough pain I didn't even touch Pet.

Then have my very affectionate girlfriend in clothing much more flattering than robes. Pressed up tightly against me. Yeah, I was very glad I was wearing robes. Although given Hermione's smirk, she had felt it.

I talked with them about their holiday plans and mentioned the new Disney park in France. The mention of Disney caused a little girl to come scampering into the room. Which turned out to be Missy Granger, Hermione's six-year old-sister.

Missy was a bubbly, energetic little girl. Adorable too. And oddly shy around me. I had seen her that Christmas Eve, but she had hidden behind her parents instead of saying anything.

Mentioning Disney seems to have cured her. She practically was bouncing up and down as she begged to go there for their holiday trip. Hermione tried to look exasperated, but it was obvious she was rooting for her sister.

In the end they agreed. Not that I blamed them.

Hermione's parents really are nice people. They insisted on paying for me despite the cost of purchasing last minute tickets. I wanted to invite Sirius along, but he was still stuck in St Mungos.

I wrote him a few letters, but was careful not to put any real details in them. I have no doubt Dumbledore's reading his mail. In fact in the last letter I signed it: Constantly Vigilent, Harry Potter.

The Euro Disney Resort turned out to be much better than I anticipated. While the park seemed understaffed, there were a lot fewer visitors than I imagined. Which meant while there were plenty of small delays, there wasn't any waiting in line for an hour to get on a popular ride.

Hermione and Missy loved it. They had never been to a theme park before. They ran around, looking at everything and taking pictures with all the mascots they could find. It was also the first time I've seen Hermione acting her age.

I used one of the modern looking wizarding cameras, figuring I should make sure they have good pictures of the visit. I didn't think it would stand out too badly.

A few hours into the trip a man walks up, muttering insults in french and grabs me. He then tries to snatch my camera.

I surge my magic and tap my wand in my jacket sleeve. A powerful Notice-Me-Not charm springs up and everyone nearby starts clearing the area. Seeing Hermione's family looking away I flick out my tanto and stab him in the chest.

I twist out of his grip and cast another Notice-Me-Not on his body. Then I drop the one on myself and walk away. Hopefully the security cameras didn't get a good look at me.

I steer everyone away as quickly as possible. My spell was only set to last a few minutes. No point making it obvious the body was charmed.

We enjoyed the rest of the day. Every hour that passed I relaxed a little more.

I should have realized it was too good to be true. The aurors were waiting for me when we went back to our hotel room. So much for a relaxing vacation.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Sirius brooded over the letter in his hands. And it was Sirius now, without the Marauders, his friends, he wasn't Padfoot. He wasn't alone though. He still had had his pup. Who was stolen and was being kept from him.

He barked out a bitter laugh. Sirius was fairly certain Dumbledore hadn't realized how badly he had screwed up. The mind healers Dumbledore had publicly insisted he see had forced him to look back over his life objectively. And he didn't like it much.

He had been furious at Dumbledore before, but was an instinctive thing. Dumbledore would more than likely been able to explain it away and he would have forgiven him. Turned into his pawn once again.

Months of forced therapy and meditation had given him a clearer picture. It all revolved around Harry somehow. Dumbledore was desperate to control him, even to the point of sacrificing people.

He still might not have realized it if it wasn't for Harry's letters. Somehow he was sneaking in letters. They would be hidden under his plate when breakfast was brought in.

Of course they didn't stay a secret long. Not when Sirius had whooped in joy the first time. And the letters stopped. He found out later they were being confiscated by an auror.

A month later he started getting letter again. It seems an auror and two healers were dying. The last letter had held some kind of blood ward. Advanced magic. Very advanced. And dark too. How Harry even knew about something like that was a bit worrying. But at least now no one wanted to try to stop the letters.

The DMLE tried to question him. They couldn't get anywhere. They didn't have cause. They couldn't even pressure him. With how he'd been illegally imprisoned anything even remotely shady would look bad. And wards on private property are legal.

The letters weren't frequent and often intentional vague, but they showed Harry was happy. And that was the most important part. The letters offered a connection to his godson though and he loved them.

Harry complained about classes, which Sirius could understand. A first year who could use blood wards likely would be bored in class. He talked about his girlfriend, which made him proud.

He sent letters back. Not often, and likely being read. He still hasn't had a chance to get a new wand. So he kept it friendly, but not too detailed. Both of them were careful never to mention Dumbledore.

This latest letter wasn't from Harry. No it was from the manipulative old coot himself.

It was asking him to teach at Hogwarts. And Dumbledore was dangling the prospect of spending more time with his godson as bait. It was tempting. He had made a mistake though. Dumbledore could hardly offer a job teaching and still insist he wasn't recovered enough to leave now could he?

He didn't even bother replying. Dumbledore had mentioned Harry was in France as a way to show how he needed guidance. As far as Sirius was concerned, he wanted to talk to his godson. Everything else could wait until then.

Besides, what did Dumbledore know? How much trouble could Harry have gotten into in only a few days?


	5. Complications

Chapter 5 Complications (edited)

Needless to say I was pissed. I had my own room and had been planning on having a very fun night with Hermione. All it would have taken was a few charms to keep them from paying attention. And how my plans are ruined.

The aurors were very rude. Loudly insulting me and shoving me along. They were also rude to the Grangers when they had left their room to see what was happening. Although the delay does give me enough time to realize they haven't presented a badge or warrant.

Maybe they aren't aurors.

So I waited until we were outside the room before asking "Am I under arrest?"

I grin when they just shove me along. Well now. How very careless of them. I pretend to stumble and when the man grabs me twist and bury my knife in his stomach. I banish his body into the other and charge. A slash and his wand and hand fall to the ground.

"Accio portkeys." I grin even wider when two metal pins fly into my hand. I look around and only Hermione is peeking from her door. I wink at her and grab hold of the bodies "Activate".

Ah. This might have been a mistake. Instead of a criminal warehouse or some random pureblood mansion I'm inside an office building. One that looks like it's full of people in the same red robes at the two I just killed. Maybe they weren't pretending after all.

I surrender when several of them point wands at me and order me to drop my wand. At least they're observing the formalities. I shrug and carefully place both my wand and tanto on the ground.

I even let them place me in a holding cell and answered most of their questions. I wasn't even that evasive. No reason to cause problems yet. I don't think they liked how calm they were.

They still weren't suspicious enough though. I was calm because I was still well armed. I know the gauntlets were designed to be concealable, but it still seems terribly sloppy that they missed them.

Besides I had torn through anti-apparition wards before. I doubt these will hold me any better.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Sebastian Delacour sighed as he looked over the information in the folder. Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived was in France. Worse the British hero had just killed three aurors in France.

The story just didn't make sense. Why was he in France? Wasn't he supposed to be off sequestered somewhere training with Dumbledore?

And it wasn't like they could do much to him. He was considered a national treasure in Britain. And the current British administration seemed particularly short sighted. Punishing him could start a war. And there is no telling what Dumbledore would do.

Oh well. Maybe talking to him will help clear things up.

Mr Potter was sitting calmly in his holding cell. He could see why the aurors thought there was something wrong. He just seemed too calm. And not in the stiff blank way Occlumency provides. Even if he is young for it.

Maybe try and be polite. It's what he's best at after all. And why he's the current head of the Department of International Magical Cooperation in France. "My name is Sebastian Delacour, Head of French International Relations. May I ask just why the famed Boy-Who-Lived felt it was necessary to kill three aurors in a foreign country? Tea?"

The boy. No. Anyone how can kill three men and not break down is a man. Or a monster, but that's not a pleasant thought. The young man relaxed even further at the offer and gave a small smile and nod.

He made polite conversation for several minutes before gently probing for information. Mr Potter answered most of his questions easily and confidently. The few he didn't he just waved away.

Sebastian had very good instincts. Rising through the ministry had required them. Being married to a beautiful woman who could throw fire with her bare hands had honed them further. And they were all screaming at him that something was wrong.

He had a meal brought in and served more tea while trying to gently interrogate him. Mr Potter was very open with most of what they wanted to know. He was in France on holiday. He was with his girlfriend's family and they were visiting that horrible Euro Disney park. Mr Potter had grinned at his grimace at the mention of the park.

Sebastian felt a headache as the story unfolded. All of the men killed had attacked without declaring they were from the ministry. Which meant they were acting illegally. As such, Mr Potter was allowed to fight back, even if the weapon he used was considered dark.

Which is when he realized what was wrong. Mr Potter didn't have any fear. Not even a hint of nervousness. It was like he was only there to humor them.

Sebastian's thoughts raced. If Mr Potter was that confident, he likely had some kind of reason. He wasn't acting like a spoiled brat, but like a politician who was holding all the cards. If the rumors were true about how powerful he was.

Suddenly Sebastian's thoughts froze. Mr Potter had portkeyed into the ministry with the bodies. He had willingly entered what he considered a trap. He had been planning to kill everyone.

Time to fix this situation. "I apologize for the confusion. I'm afraid the outrage many of my countrymen feel about the resort have caused them to take leave of their senses."

Mr Potter politely accepts, waving off any concerns. Maybe a sympathy play? "One of the two men was related to the one in the park. I hope you won't hold his terrible lapse in judgment against us."

He nods so I continue. "I would like to make up for this ordeal. Would you and your companions care to join me for dinner. you could meet my family. My oldest daughter is close to your age and my younger daughter is the same age as the youngest Ms Granger."

Mr Potter stares at him blankly for a moment before accepting. He shakes his hand and accepts a portkey before leaving.

Sebastian sighs with relief. Now he just need to make sure his family makes a favorable impression. At least little Gabrielle will be excited to meet a hero.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

That had been interesting. I honestly expected more problems. Maybe even having to deal with Dumbledore. Instead I had tea and get invited to dinner. Odd. I guess France really is nicer than Britain.

Hermione and the rest of her family were pretty worried. I explained that I had a slight problem that had been cleared up now. Then I showed them the dinner invitation and explained its significance.

Everyone was pretty excited and we all took the portkey over. Hermione was not happy to find out the portkey felt even worse than a side-along apparition. Her sister though loved it.

Meeting the Delacour's was interesting. Their appearance was the first real departure from the movie characters I can remember. Sure the daughters both have two more years to develop before their age in the movies, but the underlying structure is different.

Obviously I don't remember all the details, but I do know I remember that I had thought Hermione's actor much prettier in the movie. I can't say that about the Fleur I was presented with. This Fleur really is supernaturally beautiful.

She wasn't blond. Her hair looked like it was spun from actual white gold. It also very subtly moved on it's own, fanning out or sliding out of the way. It actually distracted me, making me wondering if the hair could be used as an extra limb. And ironically broke me free from the effects of her allure.

Damn that's insidious. I was this close to writing sodding poetry to her. I hadn't even realized it was affecting me. It probably doesn't help that even if we haven't gone all the way, Hermione and I are very sexually active. That and I'm a bit pent up.

I pause to admire the way Apolline's skin seems to literally glow a soft creamy white. Damn it. Maybe a lot pent up.

I clamp down with my Occlumency to regain my focus. I don't like how frustration keeps eating away at my discipline. Regaining control I can feel Hermione gripping my hand tightly.

I turn and yep. Hermione is glaring at me.

Dinner was odd. The Delacours were almost painfully polite. Almost stiff. I'd almost say they were nervous. Which is an odd reaction. Just what did Sebastian tell them?

The exception is their youngest daughter Gabrielle. She's all of five years old and incredibly cute. She also has a massive case of hero worship if her wide-eyed stare is any indication. And like many kids, completely ignored the social atmosphere to ask me for an autograph. Well more like waved a piece of pen in my face.

I nod and watched her immediately run off. Odd. At least she broke the ice. Both sets of parents seem to talking to each other.

I groan when Gabrielle returns with a book I recognize. Those bloody adventure books. I had forgotten all about those. Still, I promised so signed it.

Hermione's parents were shocked. "They have children's books written about you?"

Apolline thankfully answers. Ii have no idea how to reply without sounding stuck up. "You must understand in the wizarding world Harry Potter is famous. He is almost revered for what he accomplished."

Emma seemed pretty skeptical. "What could he have done? He just started school! He's eleven!" I cough. "Twelve!"

I tune out the ensuing discussion about Voldemort and the wizarding war. It seems Hermione downplayed my celebrity status or they just didn't believe her.

Looking around I notice Gabrielle enthusiastically telling some kind of story to Missy that I'm betting is from one of those bloody books. To distract them both I levitate their chairs a few inches and have them slowly spin in place. They both squeal in delight.

I stick them to their chairs before speeding up a little. Then I realized the rest of the room was silent.

Seeing everyone's shocked stares I realized I was doing it all wandlessly. Huh. I guess that's the silver lining from my ritual marathon. I've grown much more attuned to my magic. As long as I'm even passingly familiar with a spell I can cast it. Just focus and push. Intent and will.

Since I don't really feel like talking about it I just shrug. I had already spend several frustrating afternoons with Hermione trying to teach her. At the yells from the girls I go back to entertaining them.

Once the food arrived I settled back to watch everyone. The parents seem involved a fairly serious discussion about politics. Boring. Hermione is questioning Fleur about her school, Beauxbaton. And Missy and Gabrielle look like they're becoming friends already if all the giggling is any indication.

I do need to do something nice for them. Maybe buy them an owl. The parents could write Hermione and Missy and Gabrielle could become pen pals.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Albus Dumbledore groaned as he looked at the latest letter addressed to him. It was from the French Ministry of Magic and as such couldn't be ignored. When he read the contents he was flabbergasted. What was Harry Potter doing all the way in France?

A horrible thought wormed it's way through his head. No. Surely Harry wasn't thinking about leaving?

That would be a disaster. He can't afford to let the prophecy child out of his grip. Harry needed his guidance if he wasn't to make any mistakes when he takes over as Leader of the Light.

Unfortunately as much as he wanted to head to France and grab him, he couldn't afford too. Hogwarts had suffered too many disasters in a row. If he left the school now the board would immediately sack him.

The aurors had both left and needed to replace them. Worse he needed a new divination professor as well. Poor Sybill had somehow managed to drink herself to death. On sherry of all things.

He felt guilty about her death. Had he done that by trapping her in her tower? He had never intended this when he gently warded her in. He just wanted to keep her safe and others from abusing her power.

At least one good thing had come out of that debacle. Tom's rampage after accidentally destroying the Philosopher's Stone had removed his biggest opponent on the school board. He still wasn't sure what he had done. The fragments had all registered as completely without magic. It was frightening to think of how Tom had managed to so thoroughly drain such a powerful item.

At least it meant he didn't have to destroy the stone himself. He would have been wracked with guilt if he had. It would have felt like killing his friend.

The problem was that Quirrel had died in the same night Severus had left. Which implied he had been possessed. But how?

Dumbledore was sure Severus was devoted to the destruction of the Dark Lord. He had seen the depths of his love for young Lily. Surely he couldn't have been wrong about him? He didn't want to believe it.

But the evidence seemed to point to Severus being possessed. However the destruction of the Malfoy family along with that cruel letter to young Draco seemed off. That didn't feel like Tom.

And why go to the Malfoys while weakened?

Dumbledore smiled wide even as tears dripped from his eyes. Poor Severus. It was all so obvious. Severus had volunteered to host Tom. And when Tom had gone to retrieve a horcrux Snape had wrested control long enough to destroy it. Likely with fiendfyre.

Enraged at the loss and being the petty person that he was, Tom wrote the letter before fleeing.

Poor Severus. He died a hero, never realizing Tom had made more than one. Yet another example that people can't be trusted to act wisely without his help.

It was just a shame Tom had realized Sybill was the seer who gave his prophecy. He had likely attempted to get the rest of the prophecy from her. Even Sybill's death now made sense. Enraged when he discovered Dumbledore had obliviated the prophecy from her, he would have taken it out on her.

Tom was gifted at using all the Unforgivables. It wouldn't have been hard for him to force poor Sybill to drink herself to death. And it was likely intended as a warning, a distraction as he headed to the Malfoys and to deprive Dumbledore of a valuable resource.

Likely Tom was even now running away back to Albania.

Dumbledore put the letter to the side as he considered his options. If Harry was in France he likely never went to the Dursleys. Worse it meant he was completely free from any guidance.

And it was clear Harry needed guidance. Why he hadn't so much as opened the door in the third corridor! What kind of hero does a quiet bookworm make?

Maybe it was time to let Sirius out from St Mungo's? There wasn't any reason to keep him there anymore. And maybe Sirius getting guardianship of Harry would be a good thing.

While Sirius wasn't very respectful of authority, he was definitely a Gryffindor. It would be much easier to steer Harry into being a hero with his godfather's help. Over half the summer has already passed though. So maybe bringing Sirius to the school?

He could offer him the job as instructor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. And properly grateful to stay near his godson Sirius would be open to a few harmless suggestions. Even better this means he won't have to hire Lockhart.

Dumbledore sighed. That still left him with two staff positions empty. It was a pity he couldn't reach Horace. He was sure Horace would have leapt at the chance to teach the famous Boy-Who-Lived.

Maybe Andromeda? She had tried to raised a fuss when he had first taken guardianship of Harry Potter. He had made sure nothing came of it, but she might be tempted by the opportunity to reunite with Harry and Sirius.

If not Andromeda Remus could do. While not nearly as gifted as Severus, he had more important qualities. Remus would likely be able to help him steer Sirius onto the correct path. And he's be so grateful for giving him his friend back he'd be able to help him with Harry.

As for Divination, perhaps a centaur? Hagrid was friends with one of them. And it would help him show the students that there was no need for the prejudiced blood nonsense.

Decision made, Dumbledore started writing letters to both Sirius and Remus. He can always speak with Hagrid at dinner tonight.

It's ironic that it was that Tom's rampage and killing of Lucius that will end up leaving Dumbledore in a stronger position. After all it was likely if Lucius hadn't been killed Dumbledore would have already been ousted from Hogwarts. And now he can hire teachers that can serve as living examples of equality.

That was always Tom's problem. He tried to take shortcuts to power and it always cost him. Despite how it benefited him, Dumbledore mourned the loss of the Malfoy family. Yet another family line wiped out in Tom's mad quest for power. Another piece of their heritage and culture gone.

No it was obvious the only way to win was by playing the long game.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The next day Hermione and her family head off to start their normal vacation a little early. I head off to check on the progress of the soil mining.

I was shocked to find they were done. They had stripped everything away. The lake bed, the banks, even going a ways upstream. Which is impressive.

Possibly too impressive. I have no doubt the muggles are going to realize someone stripped away a massive amount of soil very soon. And a mystery this large might be enough to catch the attention of the ministry in Egypt.

It was amazing just how much area had been stripped down and a bit depressing to realize how small a percentage of my habitats it supplied.

Two hundred. That's how many habitats what they gathered could be stretched out between. Less than a tenth of the ones that possessed a layer of sand.

Still, it's a start. And I'm glad they finished already. I had been feeling naked without my necklace.

I felt like a dunderhead when I found out how. My house-elves had asked the ones working at Hogwarts for help. Since it was summer most of them had plenty of free time and were more than happy to help.

Worse it means I never needed to use all those rituals just to gather sand. I could have just asked the house-elves to gather it. Although remembering the dinner with the Delacours, at least there was some benefit from it.

Still I can take advantage of it now. When looking for more lakes and areas with a clay-like soil I came across a picture. I recognized that type of dirt. Hard, packed tight, crumbly and very slightly damp. I also know where to find a lot of it.

Since I was already in Egypt I just head south. I wanted wipe empty areas with only grass. I wanted savanna.

Africa isn't really empty. There are roving bands, small tribes and tiny villages seemingly everywhere. However they aren't organized. So it was easy enough to find a few of the more hostile bands. People who were basically raiders and slavers. I discretely captured them and then had my elves, along with volunteers from Hogwarts, strip the entire area down to the bedrock.

Since the soil only averages a few feet deep I ended up changing targets. Besides I had plenty of prisoners now. I fly to Australia.

The heart of Australia in incredibly empty. It took less than an hour to get far enough from civilization to set up. It's amazing seeing how fast house-elves can strip an area down. While the soil depth wasn't any better, the lack of any people meant I didn't have to careful.

It was also empty enough that I felt safe leaving my trunk behind again while the house-elves worked. Since I didn't have to supervise I flew back to England. There was only a few days before summer ended and I had a girlfriend to meet.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Sirius supposed he shouldn't be surprised. He had snuck in to the Hogwart's kitchens numerous times. The fact that Harry was using a house-elf to deliver the letters seems obvious in hindsight. The fact Harry was actively keeping tabs on him too.

So when a house-elf popped up wearing the Potter house crest he was startled, but got over it quickly. It was what else the house-elf was wearing that stunned him. It wasn't a tunic. Instead it was a vest and heavy robe that had obviously been tailored for the elf. And it was made from some large reptile with gray green skin.

Stunned he asked about it and just sat down in shock. Harry's house-elf was wearing basilisk skin clothes. They weren't robes either, looking a bit like the muggle suits Lily had once shown him. His house-elf was wearing a fortune and better protected than even aurors. Well it's obvious Harry is doing well, whatever he's involved in.

France was odd. While he was glad to finally see Harry, all the aurors stationed around made him nervous. Finding out his pup had been attacked twice was an outrage. He probably would have raised a stink if Harry hadn't already killed them.

The fact Harry could kill so easily was worry. At least until he found out why it was so easy. Then he was just glad Harry didn't seem to enjoy it. Hearing about his life with the Dursleys killed any lingering doubts. He'd kill Dumbledore before letting him get control of Harry.

Trying to reassure his godson he mentioned the teaching position. He did not expect Harry to argue against taking the job. His was very convincing though.

And annoyingly vague. Sirius just wished he couldn't understand it. Ten years in Azkaban pretty much destroyed any Occlumency barriers he once had. It'll be years before he'll be able to keep secrets from Dumbledore or Snape.

Even with a pair of glasses like Harry uses, Sirius doesn't trust himself to be able to protect his secrets. Not yet. Although the glasses are a very clever start. He can't help but feel a surge of pride whenever he thinks about them. His godson is so bright!

And that Harry had valuable secrets that need to be protected was quickly made obvious.

Sirius wasn't sure why Harry had wanted access to Grimmauld Place. In fact he wasn't sure how he knew about it. Although he had a suspicion after dealing with Kreacher.

There was no way for Harry to know about his brother Regulus. The story Harry spun about absorbing the Horcrux when his foster family had beaten him unconscious didn't explain how he knew to speak with Kreacher. Or that the elf had the Locket.

No. Sirius had a suspicion, but kept it to himself for now. He thought he even knew why too. Harry was a seer. Historically they weren't treated very well. And from what Harry had mentioned even Dumbledore had all but enslaved the last one he found. At least until Voldemort had killed her.

Sirius didn't stay there. Even knowing about his brother the house just had too many unhappy memories. Instead Harry had offered him a room at what seemed to be small private school.

He's still involved with what Harry calls his projects. He helps even when he doesn't understand. Stealing dirt? And from Australia of all places? At least the house-elves had done all the work.

Seeing the miles of bare rock left behind Sirius can't help but feel Harry is making some dark choices. It doesn't matter though. Sirius had already failed James, his brother in all but blood. He won't fail his godson.

At least claiming the LeStrange vaults was straight forward. And the destruction of Hufflepuff's Cup proved he was right to support Harry.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I greet Hermione with a hug and chaste kiss. I missed her, but I'm really starting to hate our age. And my recent exposure to dementors hadn't helped my mood any.

Abstractly I can see why dementors are so feared. Without happiness most people succumb to despair . Except happiness isn't the only emotion that can combat despair. I guess it makes sense. The clues were all there. Voldemort kind of made it obvious. He didn't use some kind of exotic spell. He did the same thing I did. He used rage.

When I approached Azkaban the depressing aura seemed to leach all color out of the world. Not literally, but there was a vitality, a spark that was just suddenly gone. It left behind emptiness.

My first life was not always a happy one. Bullies had been my particular bane. Much like the original Harry Potter in fact. I wasn't beaten down like he was though. I suppressed the part of me that cared.

It was a freeing revelation. Without caring about consequences I lost my fear. Without fear I had no reason to hold back. And when I crushed my bullies I grew to love that feeling of being free.

Feeling that familiar emptiness once again I responded the same way.

Rage. Pure hatred for what had inflicted this on me. It was madness in some ways. A purity of purpose that disregarded everything else, even my own safety, as long as I succeeded.

I braced myself, furiously planning, determined to try and take out as many as possible before they overrun the ferry. And then the dementors all stop.

They just hover there for a bit and then turn away. One or two even looked like they may have shallowly bowed towards me.

It seems horribly ironic that they stop wanting to attack just after I decided to kill them.

At least it meant they didn't try to stop me when I wandered around the jail. It meant I didn't have to try and use fiendfyre to just burn the entire place down. So instead I snuck around under my invisibility cloak for a few days.

I used my tanto to kill the LeStranges. I didn't want any chance of my magic signature being picked up. Just in case I killed Bellatrix last. After all she was the one with Black blood.

I succeeded, but I wasn't happy about it. I really hate dementors.

As Hermione drags me to the bookstore I try to shake off my mood. After all we've been apart for a few weeks. I should try to enjoy our reunion.

I even manage to smile a bit. At least until I see the huge crowd. Hermione's voice abruptly seems to have gone up in pitch. "Harry! Can you believe it! It's Gilderoy Lockhart! He wrote all our Defense Against the Dark Arts course books this year! We need to get in line to get them signed."

And now I'm depressed.


	6. Mind Games

Chapter 6 Mind Games

Hermione. My sweet, affectionate, sometimes overly amorous Hermione is squealing like a fangirl.

No. I don't believe it. I refuse to. And yet the sight doesn't disappear. She eagerly drags me into the store, babbling all about the things she's looked up about the famous author.

Just where has the calm analytical girl I've been cultivating gone?

So great was my shock that I didn't react in time when a hand grabs my arm. When it drags me to the side I was still trying to focus. "Smile wide! Together we're worth the front page!"

Oh hell no! I stomp on his foot and grab one of his fingers and wrench it backwards until I hear it snap. As Lockhart collapses I jump off the podium.

Hermione glares at me. "Harry! Why did you have to do that to Professor Lockhart."

Screw it. I have better things to do with my time than watch my girlfriend fawn over someone else.

"Try reading his books then get back to me." I leave. She doesn't follow.

In a very poor mood and feeling anxious without my necklace I head to Gringotts. I needed to order a few more trunks. It was an idea I had been considering. More of an idle thought for the far future and I needed to expand. And it was inspired by my original trunk manor.

Nested trunks. Well not exactly trunks anymore. More like cabinets or a standing closet really. Large enough that I can set them into the wall and they would look like a normal doorway. Or an armored once since it'll be metal.

I was really glad I was so paranoid now. I had shifted several resources over to my original trunk before leaving my necklace behind. Including the Philosopher's Stone. Or at least one of them.

Using it I paid the goblins a small mountain of pure gold to order twenty-one trunks. Enough to nest three others inside every trunk on my necklace. Which was probably overkill since I really didn't need more space.

The main draw is that they're installable and more importantly, removable. If I had already bought some I could have left those with Sirius down in Australia. Instead I'm going to have to wait weeks before Sirius gets back.

Which I'm just going to have to put with since I doubt we'll ever be able to risk returning. I have no doubt the theft will draw worldwide attention eventually if only for the scale. Hell the affected area will no doubt be easily visible from space.

Another thought has me cursing. It won't be weeks. Hogwarts starts in less than a week. Which means most of the house-elves will be leaving in a few days. Sirius will be gone for months.

Not bloody likely. That's way too long. I immediately send a letter to Sirius to stop when the house-elves leave. Maybe he can drop me off at the train? It'd be nice to have company.

Besides I have another project he can work on.

It was frustrating to hear that Warwick was still having trouble finding more people. At least he found out why. It was bitterly ironic that the goblins are hiring the people I was searching for in order to fuel the rituals needed to create my trunks. And I had just ordered more.

Looks like that plans a bust. Today really isn't my day.

I go to sleep. Maybe everything will make sense in the morning.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The next day I jump out of bed. I don't have time to mope around.

It helped that I remembered that I can covertly stolen a few hairs from the Delacours. I few quick potions later and three of the men from Africa that I had captured were polyjuiced as Apolline, Fleur and Gabrielle. Although I did use more potions to alter their age. I'll check on them tonight and see if was now permanent.

I also have a new plan and was excited to get started on it. I was forced to sneak into Hogwarts for part of it, which is pathetically easy. Hogwarts really has horrible security. At least it lets me claim the Room of Requirement that much sooner.

I take the time to set up the portraits of Eliza to once again. Hopefully they'll finish going through all the recordings of classes this year now that I have the process smoothed out. Although maybe I should have a few more portraits made? An even twenty sounds better than fifteen.

The Room helps me research my idea, providing me Dumbledore's notes and then excerpts from books and journals. Ironic that it was the two people I was the most irritated with currently that inspired this potential project.

Traditionally dwarves were viewed by muggles as fierce miners. Skilled in both crafting and war. Living deep underground. Several of the pieces of wizarding history I had come across actually supports that view.

Except Lockhart hires dwarves to serve as singing telegrams. And the few other examples of dwarves I've seen aren't much better. Drunkards, bums. Not a single warrior or craftsman. I haven't even heard of one.

So what happened? What turned a race like Gimli into the jokes that Lockhart hires? That's what I need to know and what the Room helps answer.

The histories were pretty fragmented. Thankfully Dumbledore had done most of the research already. I still used the Room the confirm the notes. It was interesting to see the Room sort through the information. It makes me wonder if it could be used as a more generic magical indexing system.

Maybe I should mention that function to Hermione? Eh. Maybe if we make up. I doubt I'll even bring her back to the Room while she's acting like a fangirl.

The story I piece together is a sad one. A tale of a dying, broken people. One driven from there homes by their enemies the goblins.

Just like in Lord of the Rings, goblins and dwarves are natural enemies. Only it seems goblins have a greater affinity for magic. So they could create powerful magical weapons and armor, which gave them the advantage.

Gradually the dwarves were driven out from their cities. And eventually from the earth entirely. Making them refugees. And the wizarding world is Darwinian. If you aren't strong enough or have anything to offer, you're discarded.

From what I could find dwarves have very little free magic. They're closer to beasts in that their magic is integrated into their bodies. Their magic greatly enhances them physically, but it's made not an overwhelming advantage due to how small they are. Even goblins, at four feet, are almost a foot taller.

Which means they're little better than physical labor to wizards. However while wizards don't see any value in them, the dwarves sound perfect for me. They're strong enough to wield heavy equipment, tough enough to make amazing soldiers and are precise enough to make amazing craftsman. Or marksman.

It won't even be that hard. Currently the dwarves have nothing. Even Dumbledore never bothered with them. Given a chance to live. To be valued and thrive? They'll be among my most fanatical followers.

At least they will be with a few magical adjustments. Besides it's not like they have the right type of magic to detect what I'll be doing. And they'll even agree to it. Well at least as much as the DA did with Hermione's contract.

All but vibrating in anticipation I write to Warwick. He has a new position. He needs to recruit all the dwarves he can. I didn't even need to leave the Room to send it. Thank god for house-elves.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The goblins delivered the first of my new trunks. I'm now fairly certain they really are just that unpleasant. Spiteful even to one of their best customers. The expanded space inside is larger than before. Not by much, but it's enough to push the number of floors from 110 to 130. They even send a note that's all but mocking. Stating that due to the extra costs I can no longer afford the last two trunks being made.

I refuse to pay the greedy bastards any more though. Besides, jokes on them, I don't really need all those trunks. Although that does remind me to check on the progress of another project.

The Philosopher's Stone isn't the only valuable resource I moved to my trunk manor. I had also moved what I was thinking of as my design team there. It was convenient since it was where I also had my current mess of a library.

After the air pocket project I had them start working on another project. Its an extension of what they already done with the portraits. Or at least tangentially related.

I want a method of combining animation charms and the portrait charms. The idea is to be able to take a single skilled craftsman and imbue his skills into a construct. Eventually I would be able to create a massive workforce without the hassle of ensuring the loyalty of a large population.

I was very impressed to find out they had already finished. In fact it had taken less than a week. It really was that similar to the portrait enchantments. Thankfully I had left a list of suggestions and they had been working on those.

They had already confirmed that a combination of mechanical engineering, runes and animation charms allowed for the creation of a vastly superior construct in terms of strength and speed. Unfortunately none of them were engineers. They had been limited to the few exampled I had provided. I was going to need to find an actual engineer to help them.

Sadly it seems my other idea wasn't feasible at all. There aren't any spell casting constructs. The training dummies used by duelists and aurors all have a short enchanted item that emits beams of colored light. It doesn't actually cast spells.

Which means I will eventually need to establish my own wizarding population.

Which is a concern for the future. For now I sneak back out of Hogwarts. I have more errands to run.

My first stop is a nearby college. It's a bit risky using the Imperius curse so many times, but I was impatient. I also wanted the right target. A competent graduate level student without any strong ties to anyone.

Even with apparition and the imperius it took hours. I was exhausted and ended up settling for one that had only had a girlfriend. Since she didn't have any close ties either I took them both.

At least she's not going to be useless. An art major might be handy when it comes to design. None of the rest of the team are any good at aesthetics.

I wonder if I can make a portrait of a magical beast?

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

It's late when I arrive at Hermione's home. It's not an easy thing since the sensors around her home will pick up even wandless magic. Sure I can't be convicted of it, but it'll still be a hassle.

It's a good thing I've been practicing apparating so much then. I was almost perfectly silent when I appeared in her room. I put on my mask and opened the potion I prepared for this meeting. A dreamless sleep, but aerosolized. Not very effective, but enough to keep her from waking up.

Now let's see what was going on. Legilimence. I was really glad the slight bit of magic needed to use that spell couldn't be picked up by detectors.

A few minutes later I lean back with a frown. So that was it. I was disappointed. It was her parents. They had been subtly disapproving of our relationship. Hermione had just fallen back into old habits. I had been sure Dumbledore had been involved somehow. A potion or compulsion, but her emotion change had been gradual and not sudden.

Maybe her parents. I tried legilimency on them, despite the difficulty. It was painful and chaotic. And worse it was all normal. No traces of magic anywhere.

Just as I was about to pull out I catch a glimpse of something. A.. letter? Hogwarts stationary. I push deeper. I'll have a migraine after this. But I need to know.

With a gasp I pull out of their minds. I chuckle despite the pain. I have to hand it to him. Dumbledore's play was masterful. He didn't need to use magic. He just used words.

Dumbledore wrote a letter to the Grangers saying he was concerned about us. He mentioned the dead aurors and very subtly implied I was involved. Hermione's defense that I wouldn't do that without a reason had just confirmed everything. He had manipulated them perfectly.

Now how to play this?

Hermione and her parents woke up to the sound and smell of breakfast cooking. I had thought long and hard on exactly how I wanted everything to go and even longer setting it all up. I was looking forward to the results.

"Good morning." And the first part was the greet everyone cheerfully. Thrown off by my greeting everyone settled in to eat. I just love how ingrained the social rules are in Britain.

I then cheerfully weave a horrific tale of a hidden megalomaniac determined to puppet master the world. I go all the way back to Grindelwald and strongly imply Dumbledore has been creating and defeating dark lords of his own creation in order to bolster his own prestige.

I cheerfully outline the horrific deeds that led me to being raised isolated and abused by people never intended to have me. How he removed everyone in a position to protest his decisions.

And then I produced the letter Dumbledore sent Hermione's parents. I took everyone into my trunk manor for what they thought was the first time. I had taken them down last night while they were asleep for some delicate spell work. I used the revealing charm to show the traces of magic on it.

Hermione immediately was horrified, realizing what I was implying. Over her parent's protests she petrified them and used legilimency. It wasn't hard. My tale had brought up all the relevant memories, part of why I played it that way. She quickly found the knot of obviously altered emotions.

The best part of the plan was the confundo. A well placed confundo isn't detectable. The magic quickly fades away and the mind quickly starts justifying to itself for how it feels. They don't always work either, but that's the price for being subtle.

Truthfully I still wasn't sure if Dumbledore had used a confundo on Hermione's parents. Navigating their memories wasn't the easiest thing to do. What I could do was the place a much stronger and obvious confundo in the same memory. Obvious enough Hermione could find it with some coaching.

Everyone was outraged at Dumbledore's callousness. Hermione's parents wanted to remove Hermione from Hogwarts. Which forced me to 'reluctantly' reveal how Dumbledore will reprogram them if they try. Its even true from a certain point of view.

That idea shut down they talked about moving and other options as the contracts I set started kicking in. As her parents started discussing plans without any input from her, Hermione felt a whole host of emotions at her situation. Violated and anger from Dumbledore. Cherished and loved from her parents. And also betrayed by everyone except me.

When Hermione turned and hugged me, clinging to me tightly, I knew I succeeded. I have my Hermione back. And as her parents were increasingly dismissive of her opinions, Hermione became more determined to not be separated from me . In the end she even obliviated her parents.

I'm not sure why Dumbledore wants to isolate me. But it doesn't matter. I win.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore's latest plot was derailed, but it didn't really satisfy my need to lash out. I really wanted to hurt something right now.

I settled for the goblins. They were unpleasant enough that I actually felt no guilt when even contemplating several of my darker plans for their race. Sadly I wasn't in a position to try any of those.

Instead I'm going to hurt the goblins financially.

I had come up with several ideas for resource generation, but two had seemed to stand out. I settled for one though. And ironically enough it required the goblin's unwitting help to pull it off.

What I ordered from the goblins is a coin sorter. At least that is how I explain it to them. I want a large expandable ring that will separate coins of a certain metal. I don't remember all the details but I know there is a lot of metal dissolved in sea water.

So I bring in a number of fake coins all made from as many different metals as I can get samples of. And of course are safe to work with. I promise a bonus if the ring can sort more than one type of coin at the same time. They come through and the rings can sort all for all the metals and for up to three at once.

After testing it I order a dozen more, each able to expand to a full twenty feet across instead of the five previous. I am once again broke. At least until the rings get working. I wonder if the goblins have any idea they just helped me break the bank.

Until then I can probably depend on Sirius to make sure I don't end up homeless. Or rather forced to kill and loot a family before I want too.

Ironically one of the options overlaps with what Sirius is doing in Australia quite heavily. I had found a book that listed several of the more common elements found dissolved in seawater. Calcium, in the form of calcium carbonate, is one of them.

Calcium carbonate is also known as calcium sand and used in soil. And in it's dissolved state has the consistency of clay. I suppose mixing it with the soil already gathered will be the best bet, but I'll leave the details up to Dobbins. Hopefully I won't need to gather any more soil for a very long time.

A number of other elements are extracted that will probably be useful for other experiments. Things such as salt, sulfur and iodine. Even most of the metals, such as iron, vanadium, and nickel will be useful.

The real benefit though is the silver. Sure it's not much, but the filters will extract almost perfectly pure silver. A little smelting and it'll be just as pure as the gold I create with the Philosopher's Stone. Which should throw off the goblin's suspicions.

And since bronze is just copper and tin, I can sell those as well. I'll even see if they want to buy some of the other metals. After all the more types I can provide the easier it is to disguise the source when I come up with more gold.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Feeling quite satisfied with myself I suddenly remember my experiment with Pet. I excitedly hop into my trunk. Time to see how Pet turned out.

I take my time since this is pretty much the first time I've really looked at her. As expected she doesn't have the allure. And it seems the aging potion didn't last, which is a pity. Now to see what she actually looks like.

When I had first polymorphed her I had been more concerned with making sure it was permanent. And making sure she didn't have the allure. And I was distracted by my worry over what happened with Hermione. And... needless to say I had a lot on my mind.

So now I take the time to really study her features. When I compare them to my memory she doesn't look any different. The differences are more subtle. Her hair doesn't move and her skin, while a pure creamy white, does not glow. It was like the allure airbrushes the veela.

Although now that I can look at her objectively she looks vaguely familiar. It's not a perfect resemblance, but she kind of resembles that Buffy actress from that vampire TV show. Which, might be running right now. It was a long time ago.

Or does it even exists here. Or just has a difference actress. After all I already know several of the actors from the Harry Potter movies exist, but look vastly different.

I guess it doesn't really matter. Now I've confirmed at least two part human permanent transformations through polyjuice. Time to run some more tests. And hey, I just happen to have a large supple of non-magical captives I don't care about.

In fact this will make use of everyone I'm not planning on using for my warg project.

One of Dumbledore's more interesting entries were about werewolves. He had even written a short proposal for creating a sanctuary where they could stay. The part that was most interesting to me was that he mentioned that werewolves that mate under the full moon give birth to large intelligent wolves.

In other words, Wargs straight out of Tolkien. At this point I wouldn't be surprised to find out Tolkien had magical roots given how often his lore resembled reality.

The thing was I didn't need or want large groups of intelligent wolves roaming around my habitats. Sure a few packs are fine, but large enough numbers to be useful in battle were problematic.

A portrait imbued construct solves that problem nicely. All I need to do is make sure the wolf I use is very thoroughly trained. And best of all, the special portraits are realistic enough to serve as the template for imbued constructs.

And while wolf constructs won't likely be nearly as effective in combat, they'll be able to utilize senses that ones based on more humanoid beings will be able too.

Using the Lycacomia curse I turned most of the people I had captured back in Africa into werewolves. In particular I inflicted all of the women along with a few of the men. The remaining men are slated for polyjuice experimentation.

Then I stuck them all in one of the goblin made trunks and set it to full moon. Combined with lust and fertility potions and I had my own puppy farm. Aunt Marge would be proud.

This project will likely take a few years to really produce results, but I'm fairly certain the results will be impressive. I had even had my design team working on the gear to train the wolves in their spare time. The Imperius really is convenient for getting the maximum number of work hours out of people.

Taking the long view I also start arranging for several of the people being trained in potions to serve as security troll trainers. Between the dwarves, trolls and whatever guard beasts I create I should have the makings of fairly decent army.

Of course the army will geared very heavily towards defense, but that really isn't an issue for me. After all Salazar Slytherin created and bound a basilisk. And he did it in this very school. Which means once my studies are advanced enough, I can do the same.

Of course Isaac would likely be horrified at what his abilities inspired. My almost forgotten portrait painter was still struggling to make his way as a painter. Most purebloods refused to hire him though so he was currently painting favorite pets among other things, which is what had prompted my idea for construct wolves.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

For all my plans for creating stable loyal populations it seems I overlooked one that I already owned. It turns out I had given Dobbins an unprecedented amount of freedom when I mentioned that he spoke with my voice. And since he knew that the Great Harry Potter would want what was best for all house-elves, he did his best to do the same.

Dobbins has been actively recruiting on my behalf. Approaching house-elves that have been unfairly dismissed or lost their families. While most seem to go to either the agency or Hogwarts, it seems I'm rapidly becoming the preferred choice. Even better some of the younger and bored elves already at Hogwarts have joined.

And then there is the crusade.

Both Dobbins and Dobby view me as the savior of their species. The fact that I'm essentially providing them with projects that feed them large amounts of ambient magic and allow unlimited work means they think of working for me as paradise. And they're spreading that view.

I'm not even sure I can stop them at this point. Too many of my house-elves seem to worship me already. And I'm benefiting too much to bring myself to try and stop them.

As part of their religion, the house-elves are devoted to protecting their species from abusive masters. As their numbers have grown Dobby has started leading teams to other estates and businesses, preaching about a holy land. Elves that accept are freed. Usually by having all their master's killed.

The Ministries are keeping it quiet for now, but over a dozen family and at least that many businesses have been destroyed from what Dobbins proudly reported to me. Maybe training Dobbins and Dobby with firearms had been a mistake.

It's surprising how dangerous a house-elf can be even armed with a .22 caliber machine gun. The ability to disillusion themselves and apparate through wards makes them amazing assassins. And the basilisk skin suits provide amazing protection.

I can't quite bring myself to regret it though. After all it was the old gangster movies that had convinced them to accept the basilisk skin zoot suits were a uniform rather than clothes. The fact that they wanted their own guns to look like the tommy guns was just too funny to deny.

Even Kreacher is wearing one now. He joined my cult after I destroyed the locket. And after a few clever arguments he was the first to volunteer for training in firearms and take up the uniform. It wasn't hard to convert him, after all I intended to create a purely magical nation using my trunks.

All of which meant instead of the sixteen house-elves I thought I owned, I actually have almost fifty. And that was without factoring in that almost every single female was either pregnant or nursing a baby.

When I asked Dobbins about that the answer made me outraged on their behalf. House-elves need permission to have children and most pureblood families will only allow it when they have children and want to give them a personal elf. The rest of the time they don't want to deal with the slight inconvenience of the female house-elf being slowed by the pregnancy.

How can they not value such loyal creatures? They're perfect! Powerful, loyal, intelligent. I cut off my rant when I see the look in the house-elve's faces. Ah, shite. That's probably going to make their whole Harry Potter cult even worse now.

Like so many of the habits of the purebloods, it's horribly self-destructive. Worse house-elves are occasionally killed by abuse or discarded for minor slights. And since no pureblood will accept a disgraced house-elf, the population is rapidly shrinking. I doubt there are more than a thousand of them in Britain at this point.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Sirius was glad to be away from Australia. Seeing the vast tracks of desolation left behind was getting depressing. And his old home wasn't much better. He was all too glad to move into the informal school his godson was running. It was nostalgic, reminding him when he was in Hogwarts.

This current task though was even weirder. Gathering tons of seaweed is odd, but at least he isn't destroying areas to do it. If anything he has the opposite problem. Sirius still wasn't sure where Harry had gotten ahold of the runestones. They worked though. Too well in many ways. The waters were almost choked with seaweed despite the trawler running nonstop.

Sirius was very grateful for Lily for her lessons. It had started as a way to not stand out so much, but since his family would have hated it, he dived into them. It was the only reason he was able to even find, much less buy a fishing trawler.

Of course he enchanted it afterwards. No point not to since the entire operation was set at Black Island. And given it was under a ton of secrecy charms it pretty much confirmed Harry's status as a seer.

And he thinks he's figured out what Harry needs the seaweed for too. Sirius had been doing his best to keep an eye out on his godson and he's noticed a few things. How Harry seems to gathering allies. How one of his followers has started contacting dwarves. And that's just what he's aware of.

It's a disturbing trend. All leading up to one conclusion.

Harry was gearing up for a war. A massive one too if the amount of supplies he was gathering was any indication. Which worried him since he hasn't contacting very many wizards.

Sirius was a little worried since in many ways Harry seems to be following Voldemort's path. Gathering creatures under him, a loyal female follower. Even the recent killing spree that had ended several family lines that just happened to have started recently. And claiming the LeStrange and Malfoy vaults was a tactic the death eaters used to pull.

In the end though Harry was his family and he'll back him. Besides if he is behind it at least he's only killing dark wizards. And he finds that he's strangely comfortable with that.


	7. Lockhart

Chapter 7 Lockhart

If I had thought Hermione mortified and outraged about Dumbledore, it was nothing compared to how she felt when she finally got around to reading the Lockhart books. With her restored to the mind-set I favored it didn't take her long to spot the errors. And there were a lot of them.

Even worse to her were the inconsistencies. She was absolutely furious that she had been forced to spend so much money for what were essentially works of bad fiction. In fact she seemed to hate the Lockhart books far more than the bigoted propaganda often found in books.

It made me laugh, that Hermione hated incompetence more than prejudice. Or in her words, "At least they're honest about what they believe. They're still wrong, but they aren't deliberately lying."

Hermione was so frustrated she couldn't even read in the train ride. Of course she still needed an outlet for that energy. So she used it on me. I considered protesting, but after the summer she had it would be good to reinforce our relationship. Not that I didn't enjoy it.

Hermione ended up spending the entire trip in my lap. It was nice. Slow, unhurried and incredibly intimate. We had time to just talk, without the pressure of my projects or her studies making us impatient.

It was probably that feeling that led to our snogging for the first time. I hadn't intended too, but at least mentally Hermione no longer came across as a naive trusting child. The losses that forced her to mature did leave her a bit clingy, but we all have our faults.

I suppose another factor was that I was finally getting used to my current age. People are shaped by their environment and I've had over a year to adjust to being a preteen. And while it's still a bit icky, between Hermione's enthusiasm and Pet I've practically programmed myself to respond to her.

And while Hermione was horribly embarrassed when we were forced to change robes, I couldn't say I minded. Soiled robes were a small price to pay for being in a good enough mood that I didn't try to kill Dumbledore or Lockhart during the welcoming feast.

The next morning I wake up with a gasp and a shudder. I don't know if it's because of how long's it's been since Hermione has woken me this way, but it feels particularly intense this time. It'd good to be back in Hogwarts.

I'm surprised when I open my eyes not to see her. Normally the first thing I see upon waking is her smiling face. A little bit creepy, but it always made me smile back. Hard not too when feeling so completely relaxed and satisfied.

A muffled sound along with a surge of pleasure causes me to look down. Hermione winks up at me and then slips out to start getting ready for classes.

I flick my hands to cast a wandless homenum revelio to make sure I'm alone before sighing. She had never done that before. I was getting more comfortable with her, but she was really pushing the boundaries.

It wasn't until I stepped out of the shower I realized it was my fault. Really should have tried to control myself better. Those damn contracts. I had put in all kinds of clauses and one of them was an escalating series of sexual acts. Snogging Hermione on the train had been a mistake.

When I wrote the contracts I had assumed it'd be years before I was willing to make any moves. Fourth year or when Hermione was fifteen hadn't seem too terrible a benchmark. Not the beginning of second year!

Not like I can do anything about it now. The contracts were ingrained with her own magic at this point. Not even burning the contracts made a difference. Using legilimency I could follow the pattern of changes in her mind, but only because I knew exactly what to look for.

It seems behavior modification contracts have more of an impact on still developing minds. The possible benefits for some of my projects was enormous. I did feel slightly guilty over Hermione. At least until I remembered the fate Rowling had assigned her.

I had once gone out with a girl who valued nothing I cared about and argued with me all the time. And to be condemned to that or bitter spinsterhood? No. Anything I did could only improve her life.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Herbology opens with a lesson on mandrakes. Staring at the ugly looking root baby I wonder how well they'd crossbreed with something like garden gnomes or Horklumps? Something to talk with Hagrid about later.

The mandrakes also remind me that this year was supposed to have the Chamber of Secret's open up. Of course there's no longer a monster down there and the diary has already been destroyed. But maybe I can still get Lockhart to lose his memories? I'm undecided on the issue, after all Rita's book is scheduled to come out at the end of the year.

After the first week I've changed his mind. The first lesson at least was interesting. After the pointless, narcissistic quiz Lockhart unleashed cornish pixies on the class. Seeing just how strong they are was impressive. Yet another creature to try and crossbreed later.

Unfortunately, just as in the books, Lockhart's next lesson was just acting out scenes from his books. And he chose me to help.

Which is why I've started skipping class and wrote Rita to push up the date the book comes out. I have better ways to use my time. Besides I can already cast all of the second year spells both wandlessly and silently. Focusing most of my training on wandless magic also meant I didn't pull too far ahead of Hermione.

Hermione, not being able to practice during the summer and without my advantages, still hasn't made much progress with wandless magic. But she does perfectly well with casting silently and even made inroads with point casting.

At our current pace we will probably be able to take at least a few of our OWLs at the end of the year. Although I doubt Hermione will want to since that will decrease how long she has to prepare.

The rest of the Ravenclaws were upset with us. Hufflepuff house had actually won the cup last year, something which I hadn't realized. Ravenclaw house had come in a close second though. And the points Lockhart was taking from us were hurting our chances.

Fortunately I didn't have to worry about bullying. Between Dobby and my own wards I wasn't even aware of any attempts. And that was soon true for Hermione as well. The first time someone stole her homework I had Dobby cut their hands off. The second time I had it carved permanently into their skin.

I really love house-elves. So very loyal. And so ruthless in defense of their families. Hermione thought I had gone too far, but it worked. And it wasn't like anyone else was stopping it.

After that everyone left us alone. Dumbledore wasn't willing to expel me and if Hermione left so would I. And I didn't care about detentions assigned for skipping his class.

Not that I stopped there. I may have pushed things with Dumbledore, but even petty acts can be annoying. So a week later I made my response.

The first was a public argument in the common room. Snape had made a mockery of the house cup. He cheated. Outrageously and blatantly. Under Dumbledore's protection the cup lost all meaning. And even now.

So What!?

You get the banners changed. For a few hours!

No extra privileges. No extra snacks. There's no reward! Yeah, you won. And then it's summer.

What I did next did more to sway the house than my speech, but I had wanted the chance to vent. I passed out a stack of booklets I had made. Well Dobby make.

They were basically binders containing the OWL and NEWT tests for the last five years. In the very front is the yearly course guidelines put out by the Wizarding Examination Authority.

After that the upper years backed off. The test copies were far more valuable than any house cup. Without their support the rest of the house backed down, even if they weren't happy about it.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I nervously looked over the details of my set up one last time. I was out of excuses to delay. I had gone over everything multiple times and consulted numerous people. Nothing indicated any potential problems.

I was still nervous though. The combination of rituals and everlasting elixirs would in theory turn me into a physical juggernaught. Not actually any tougher, but stronger, faster, with heightened senses and reflexes. Not to mention the boost to my stamina and how much faster I'll heal.

I'm not exactly sure why I'm so nervous. I had tested the effects of this process numerous times already. Several of the students, after signing long term employment contracts, had gone through the process as had most of my design team.

It makes me wonder if Voldemort had used a similar procedure. Maybe one leaning more towards sacrificial magic. While the boosts there were sometimes greater, they also tainted the body. I have no wish to end up a hairless, noseless, neutered freak of nature. The last especially.

Both Sirius and Hermione had already gone through the same process. Well almost. Sirius was long since past puberty so didn't get as much benefit. And as sexually aggressive as Hermione is I wasn't going to give her the ability to bend steel. Instead she was only about twice as strong as she should be normally.

The process is going to be a huge adjustment for me. Between getting used to my new capabilities and the combat training I've arranged my magical studies will slow down. I suppose I can take my OWLs only a year early instead of two.

The ticking of the clock reminds me I only have so much time before I'm missed. I take a deep breath and begin chanting. From the first word the pain is horrific and for a moment I regretted not agreeing to allow Hermione to use the Imperius on me.

It's how Hermione had managed to complete all the rituals. She was still just too young to have the mental discipline to endure that much suffering and keep moving forward. Her absolute trust in me just made the decision easier.

I, on the other hand, was much older and cynical. I have never trusted someone that completely. If anything Harry's experiences had made that part of me worse.

My recent experiences with the dementors came to my aid. Allowing me to draw on the ruthless part of myself that could ignore a broken arm in order to strangle someone. Even then I had never tried concentrating while on fire, and that is what I felt like I was doing.

I practically screaming out the lines of the last ritual and collapsed afterwards. The pain in my chest is excruciating. Thank Merlin Hermione is here. Hopefully she'll remember to feed me all the potions needed to finish the process.

When I woke it was to the thundering sound of my own heartbeat. Although it took me a few moments to identify it. My first thought was that I had a massive hangover. At least until I realized I wasn't in any pain.

Movement drew my attention and I could see Hermione sitting beside me with a pile of empty potion vials. She said something, but my senses distorted it horribly. I could feel myself adapting though. My mind, so much faster than before, working to adjust my perceptions.

The sound of my heartbeat dulls, fading into the background . Hermione's voice seems to abruptly speed up. "-hurt anywhere?"

I reassure her and then head off to bed. Hopefully sleep will speed up the adjustment process.

My sense of balance is thrown off enough I trip. My reflexive grab crushing a portion of the doorframe. Well it looks like that part of my enhancements worked out. While Re'em blood would have made me incredibly strong it would not have made me incredibly tough.

It certainly would not have made my hands durable enough to gouge out chunks of stone. However I barely felt any pain and looking at them now they're perfectly fine. Already healed. Implanting the Philosopher's Stone in my heart was worth all of the hundreds of experiments and sacrifices I had to go through in order to perfect the process.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I had gone to bed quite early so I figured I would wake up just as early. After all thanks to Occlumency neither Hermione or I needed more than about four hours of sleep now. And I expect that to go down as we improve.

I figured I'd wake early and maybe pretend to sleep and extra hour or so while subtly testing out my improvements. After letting Hermione 'wake me up' we'd head off.

Instead I woke up almost drowning in pleasure. I could vaguely tell it was Hermione lips wrapped around me, but it wasn't the familiar pleasant warmth. It was magnified into an overwhelming experience.

It was so intense it was all I could do to keep myself from trying to stop her. Only fear that I could hurt her by accident kept me from grabbing her. And then I lose control.

I gasp as my vision clears. That... that was amazing.

I should have have been using a supersensory charm all along if it does this.

Feeling amazing I start to get up when I realize Hermione is laying on top of me. Normally she's already heading back to her room while I recover.

In fact she's been laying pretty still for awhile. "Hermione."

Very gently shaking her reveals a drooling, dazed expression. What in Merlin's name? _Legilimence_.

Hermione's mind is chaotic. Even more so than usual. Tracing it back leads to a single memory. Linked to a sense? I follow it carefully. It's... taste?

Huh.

That's new. None of the animals I tested the Philosopher's Stones on had a reaction anywhere close to this. Then again none of them gave blowjobs.

A detection spell reveals traces of the Elixir of Life flowing in Hermione's body. Well that's convenient. I guess I won't have to hunt down more stones or periodically cut one of mine out in order to keep Hermione from aging.

Well aging past her prime. I'm really glad my tests showed the elixir won't prevent that much. I've gotten used to Hermione's current age. It does not mean I prefer it.

I wonder if I implant the second stone in my heart I'll generate an even more powerful reaction with Hermione? After all I do have a second heart chamber that pumps red blood. You could even consider it being symmetrical. Although I'd need to get another bottle of phoenix tears if I'm going to use the ritual.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I forgot a number of important details from the second Harry Potter movies. Well, maybe not important, but annoying.

The first is Creevey. A first year in Gryffindor, he's incredibly rude. He's popped up at least a dozen times just to stick his camera in my face and blind me with the flash of his camera. That's annoying and I'd probably just destroy his camera and move on. But it gets worse.

Every single time Lockhart seems to just appear. Then he drags me off for a teacher student consultation on 'how to handle fame'. I swear he uses the exact same speech too.

So when Halloween comes around I decide to let off some steam.

One of the first things I've done was to set up a basilisk farm. After all their skin is the most magically resistant hide known. Only possibly rivaled by nundu hide. And their venom is equivalent to liquid fiendfyre. And that doesn't even include things like their heartstrings and bones.

Unfortunately they aren't bound. Despite having Salazar's own notes on how to do so I haven't progressed nearly far enough in my studies to try. But since they're only for harvesting I consider it worth the risk.

Not that there is much of a risk. They're being raised inside one of the goblin made trunks so their venom can't eat through the walls. And as for their gaze?

The basilisks, unlike normal snakes, possess eyelids. Although they're completely transparent. They're main function is too block their own gaze so they don't kill everything they come across. And since I had already harvested the skin of the basilisk in the chamber I removed the eyelids to make lenses.

In particular I made lenses for my mask and the rectangular shades a few of my house-elves now sport. The shades were made to match the zoot suits several of my house-elves now wear.

It seems that my elf liberation squad has inspired several of them into following in Dobby's footsteps. I still think it's hilariously ironic that Dobby is considered the height of elvish fashion.

Kreacher, in recognition for his efforts and because of his love of all things dark, is placed in charge of the basilisk farm. He has also taken to training a few of the other elves on how to properly serve as house-elves. After all he is getting pretty old.

He's more than happy to help me with my prank though. I have him sneak out and butcher all the chickens and using their blood paint the message I remember from the story.

 _Enemies of the Heir Beware. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened._

Then I use Voldemort's wand to place a permanent sticking charm on it. And finally I use parseltongue to convince one of the young basilisks to petrify someone for me. Of course I don't petrify Mrs Norris. She's never bothered me. If only because she's always asleep when I leave my dorm in the early morning.

Nope. I petrify Colin Creevey. The annoying bastard. Finally! No more pictures!

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The next day I felt like whistling as I headed down to breakfast. Even just knowing he won't be bothering me and Lockhart with him, is soothing. Hermione could tell something was up but I didn't want to spoil the surprise. After all, since she was usually with me Creevey blinded her just as often.

Dumbledore standing unexpected. "My dear students. There has been a tragic occurrence. One of you, whom shall not be named out of consideration, was attacked last night. Rest assured we are working to resolve the issue."

Ah. Standard vague reassurance. Classic Dumbledore. I was about to wink at Hermione when Dumbledore continued. "Until such time though I must insist on the following safety measure."

Wait. What?

What followed was a nightmare. Curfews, hall passes, escorts, ghost and painting patrols. It was positively Orwellian! It was basically a prison sentence.

I didn't even have to look over to know that Hermione was almost vibrating in fury. Thankfully she waited until we were alone before saying anything. "Was this what you were so excited about?"

"It was Creevey! How was I supposed to know Dumbledore would overreact like this?"

Hermione then proceeded to tear me a new one. Explaining in detail how the death of Snape and the Malfoys had people running scared. And then the string of pureblood families being killed made it worse.

She really does know me. I was sure I had my Occlumency shields up, but somehow she saw something on my face. It didn't take long for her to drag the whole elf liberation story out of me. I didn't expect the hug that followed.

Listening to her excited babble I realized Hermione wasn't upset. In fact she was excited. She loved the idea of the house-elves fighting for their freedom.

And she wanted to be involved.

Of course she did. Hermione was the one to found SPEW in the original story. I should have thought of that. Between that and her faith in me, she'd probably gladly execute the families herself.

Well, may as well make up for lost time. I introduce Hermione to the squad. While she coos over the uniforms I grant Dobby a new name and a mission. I name him Daube. And I entrust him with Hermione's protection.

I also name him the headelf of the citizenship project. Which is basically what I'm calling the group of individual projects that are focused on creating loyal stable populations to colonize the trunks.

And since Hermione is involved and likes organizing things I start officially naming other projects. The terraforming project was basically what Dobbins was leading. Adding self-sustaining, enclosed ecosystems to the habitats.

I even have a better idea and name for my trunk system. Sure it means I need to buy a lot of extra trunks, but I like the idea. I'm not sure why the goblins seem so reluctant to sell them to me either. You'd think they'd be happy to be making money.

Still, despite the goblins, Yggdrasil is now up. Consisting of the entrance trunk named Bifrost and expanded from six nested branches into nine. Not that I'll need nine anytime soon, but it just wouldn't feel right otherwise.

And in the meantime we continued to spend most of our time in the Room of Requirement. Thank Merlin I had a house-elf in the Room who could just open passages directly to me. I'd have gone insane otherwise. Daube keeps an eye on our rooms. Anyone who enters got shot in the leg. Since Professor Flitwick prefers to give notice of meetings well in advance only a few prefects were hurt.

I ignore the lecture and mention that the prefects was breaking into my private room just for their own curiosity. And since they're not getting punished, next time my defenses will just kill them.

Professor Flitwick is nice enough, but he's a bit too nice. Odd for someone with goblin blood and a history as a dueler. I can understand trusting his prefects, but not protecting them when they break the rules. After all that's part of why I killed Snape.

At least he kicked Lockhart's ass in the dueling demonstration from what I heard. I knew better that to go. I can't wait until Rita's book comes out.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Christmas is spent with Sirius. Hermione still isn't comfortable with her parents so she spends the holiday with us. When Sirius tried to embarrass me I can't help but grin. I've been waiting for this moment. Hermione is in on it too.

I pull out a book from my pocket. The title clearly reads Karma Sutra and has a suggestive, but not explicit animated cover picture. "Thanks for reminding me. Honey for Christmas I want to try this."

As I start to hand it over to Hermione Sirius sputters for a second before snatching the book from my hands. Hermione's giggles set me off and we both start laughing. It only gets worse when he looks down and sees the book is actually 1001 Pranks.

The break is relaxing. Besides a few small pranks we mostly relax. It was nice not feeling like your constantly being monitored.

The only blip was the fact that we couldn't use Black Island. The seaweed had overgrown to the point it was choking the waters. Which actually wasn't a bad thing from a certain point of view. So I called Dobbins to retrieve the runestones and transfer the seaweed beds into one of the free habitats.

After all a purely internal source of my own organic mulch could only help speed things up. Although Sirius would likely be needed to help set up new trawlers.

The gifts we exchange don't mean much. It was the company we appreciated. Although Hermione did like her first edition copy of Rita Skeets new book, The Life and Lies of Gilderoy Lockhart.

When we got back, we were once again being taught by an auror.


	8. Hidden Gems

Chapter 8 Hidden Gems

"Get out!"

Sirius slammed the door. He was furious. How dare Moony betray him like that. Suggesting that he might want to take a break from caring for Harry. That the stress may be getting to him. He knew who was behind those words.

Dumbledore. The same bastard that stuck his godson in an abusive home and left him to rot in jail!

Remus may have been a Marauder, but he was always too straightforward. Every inch a Gryffindor. He didn't have deception spoon fed to him as a child.

In a rare moment Sirus was grateful he grew up a Black. Without being raised in a house full of treacherous lying bastards he doubt he would have realized what Remus was implying. And just like James, blindly gone along with whatever Dumbledore said.

Blind idiot can't even think for himself.

Not that he was much better before. It took losing everything to do that. Remus had sunk pretty low, but he hadn't hit rock bottom, not yet. And until then Remus won't accept that Dumbledore is less than perfect.

A common failing in the wizarding world. Remus has rejected all his arguments. Pointing out that Harry was turning out dark, according to Dumbledore, and Sirius wasn't stopping it. It seemed to be a favorite tactic among Dumbledore supporters. Made worse since they believed it. As if Dumbledore is the perfect example of light and can't ever be wrong.

To be honest, Harry was likely going dark. Or at least dark grey as his godson had put it. And well, it wasn't like he was much better. They both had seen to much, suffered to much, to be anything else.

And now, after forgetting about him for ten years, Dumbledore wants Harry to listen to him. So he can fix him.

Fix him. Like something was wrong or he was broken. A tool. That's all Dumbledore saw. Just like he had been. Until he was thrown away.

Damn him. And Dumbledore too.

And the whole wizarding world while they're at it! Inspired Sirius started writing a letter. Let's see how Dumbledore feels when I pull Harry from Hogwarts.

I can always just hire tutors for him. And he had mentioned when visiting Black Island that it was the first time he had seen the sea or taken a vacation. Time to fix that.

I can buy a yacht. After working with the fishing trawler enchanting a yacht will be a breeze. And it's not like we'll lack storage space. Not with all those crazy trunks of his.

How to convince him though? Well, Harry really seems to love books. Maybe give him the Black library and give him a head start on his own personal library.

And maybe call the trip educational. As in play tourist, buy more books and maybe more animals. Harry did say he was planning on creating his own farms and such.

Hmm. Harry likely won't be willing to part with his girlfriend. Which is good since she's good for him. Plus they're cute together. And maybe offer to become her magical guardian. Sirius wouldn't put it past Dumbledore to try something with Hermione just to get to Harry.

No the faster they were away from England and Dumbledore the better.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Humans are naturally sociopaths. It's a thought I've had before and my experiences haven't really dissuaded me from that belief. Well, integrating with Harry did, but not completely. Maybe I should say people naturally act like sociopaths.

Empathy and sympathy are built upon experiences. Morality is a social construct developed over time. People are not inherently good. I act kind because I enjoy being around people who aren't miserable. It's a logical choice on my part. For most the choice is subconscious and that's about the only difference.

Even Harry's vaulted moral stance is built on a selfish choice. He wanted to think of himself as better than the Dursley's. Except instead of being more powerful, their constant harping on his worthless parents made him want to be a better person. So he rejected everything their methods. Without that one decision Harry would have been every bit as bad as Voldemort.

Dumbledore is an idiot. He's a natural megalomaniac who has been scarred by his own experiences. Like a naturally cheerful person embarrassed unto they became shy. Except in Dumbledore's case he was lauded by the public and he started to buy into it.

And if ever there was an argument for my view it would be Luna Lovegood.

Honestly I had forgotten about Luna. I was busy with the Room, Hermione and everything else going on in my life. Seeing the tiny shivering girl huddled next to the door in her pajamas has me regretting that lapse.

"Hey. Are you all right?" I gently shake Luna's shoulder. I also cast a warming charm on her.

Seeing her open her mouth a few times I realize what happened. I quickly dispel the silencing charm on her. While she thanks me I use legilimency to slip into her mind.

What I find there has me pulling her into a hug. Luna, poor desperately lonely child that she is, doesn't even question it. She leans against, just enjoying being warm and having someone near who was paying attention.

I can tell because even now the mental link hasn't closed. Luna is almost incapable of rejecting friendly contact to the point her magic is sustaining the spell. Which just has me hold her tighter.

I've never felt protective of someone before. Normally I go straight to vengeance. It's nice, even if it does feel a bit like paranoia. And there is plenty to be worried about. The death of her mother shattered Luna's world. Her father retreating into his newspaper left her alone. So she copied him, following his example.

I can see how could come up with her insights. She really does look at the world without any preconceptions. Of course her father makes it so much worse.

Hearing her stomach complain I take her to the kitchens. I have a few hours still. While Hermione still needs at least four hours, I've progressed to the point where I usually only sleep for one or two. Plenty of time to run an errand before sneaking back to let Hermione wake me up.

Luna loves the house-elves and is soon sitting down with a positively enormous bowl of pudding. I cast legilimence on her while she happily eats and try my best to heal her. Broken as she is, her mind easily accepts every adjustment I make.

I added some skepticism. Enough so that instead of believing everything she is open to the possibility. Which may not sound like a big difference, but should have a huge impact on her. A touch of suspicion means she'll no longer be blind to her bullies.

All that won't fix the jagged pain that's the heart of her issues. The feeling of being alone and abandoned.

So I gently push my magic into her, weaving it through her mind, letting her know, fully and completely, that she isn't alone. It works too. Luna's mind seemed more solid after that. Gentler edges and fewer cracks. Stable in a way it wasn't before.

I returned to the dorm while Luna started on her second bowl. That had taken longer than I thought it would. I leave her a repaired invisbility cloak from the Room. I'm not sure why it was there, but she'll likely need it more than I will. After all I still a Potter cloak, even if Dumbledore still the one from this dimension.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The food duplication charm, Festum, may just be the single most broken spell outside of the gemino charm. At least in my hands. It's hard to quantify. They both are used in very different ways.

The gemino charm allows me to have weapons with endless amounts of ammunition. The festum charm is currently providing me with almost everything else.

Sure it has limitations. But a limit of organic matter is not nearly as limiting as it sounds when it involves permanent matter creation. Now when you really think about it. Organic matter can covert quite a bit.

A boiled silk worm is considered food in certain cultures. And the cocoon copies perfectly. Instant silk generator. Hell the seaweed farm I had Sirius set up would have been a waste if it wasn't so much more efficient.

There are limits. The main being magic. Unlike the gemino charm, any trace of magic in the materials and the festum charm fails. So I can't endlessly generate dragon skin or even meat. What I can copy is large oysters complete with pearls. Which is plenty.

And the second main limit is non-living. Living creatures can't be duplicated. Not even as corpses. Plants apparently are odd enough to sneak by this limit. Although duplicated seeds won't sprout. And the same with eggs.

You can duplicate a corpse though. An entire, intact corpse. Which basically means anything derived from an animal I can have my own endless supply of. Shells, ivory, oil, everything. And the spell isn't limited to just animals. Entire plants can be copied, which means I also can generate wood.

Even crazier products wholly derived from plants and animals can still be duplicated. After all pickled food that took months and sauces boiled until they bear no resemblance to their individual ingredients can be copied. Which means things like paper and ink can be copied.

Except they can't. At least not as far as most people know. Modern paper and ink was created with so many artificial chemicals they may as well be plastic. In fact almost everything in the modern world is that way regardless of it's origin.

And the parchment and ink sold in the wizarding world is created magically. However that leaves just enough wiggle room for massive abuse. At least if you can find it.

Sadly the spell does have other limits beyond those. Some natural processes also render things unable to be duplicated. Which means while things like coral can be copied, amber and coal can't. Not like that's much of a limitation when a hardening curse can be used to just convert resin or wood into them.

I guess wizards don't really need most of those substances, but I still can't help but feel that overall they're just intellectually lazy.

Although truthfully I didn't think of all the implications for those spells until recently. My encounter with Luna to be specific. Maybe some of her unique way of thinking rubbed off on me?

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

It turns out I don't have to wait for my students to fully infiltrate Hammerstein, the security troll company. Instead Sirius had just purchased it. Once I had brought him fully on board, he had been going out of his way to help me build my army.

We didn't move the company into Yggdrasil. Instead they were 'reorganizing' to set up a new branch. It wasn't even that difficult. The trolls are trained through a combination of mild pain spells when young, large golems and treats.

Golems are easy enough to make. In fact they're one of the simplest types of construct. And the pain spell was easily replicated with a modified version of my chain rod. Include the portraits and endlessly replicatable food and I had everything I needed.

Excited by how fast I managed to get my own trolls I reassigned my design team to start working on their armor. My idea was simple. Based off my original idea of duplicated plates I'm going to fake force fields.

Disillusioned outer plates on top of an armored harness. Add in notice-me-not charms and some careful work to keep the armor from restricting the troll's movements and I have an almost skin tight force field.

Or at least what looks like one. Make the harness with precise segmented metal plates and add in partially hidden glowing 'runes' and everyone think shield instead of invisible armor. More so if I actually use the rune for shield but add in fake runes from elder scrolls.

Considering the game hasn't even come out yet there's no way anyone can recognize them. I wonder, if I do end up using the trolls, will Bethesda get in trouble for violations the Statutes of Secrecy when Morrowind comes out?

I also tell to find a way to incorporate a liquid repelling charm and bubblehead into the armor. After all since I plan on arming them with nitric acid dispensers, they'll be needed. Sadly anything with a farther range will be just as, if not more so, dangerous to my own forces given their poor vision. Even the supersensory charm couldn't fix that given their magic resistance.

I probably should have brought Sirius in much earlier. As an adult Sirius has been able to speed up my plans enormously. Well, without resorting to mass kidnappings. He can approach muggle professionals, such as dog trainers and combat instructors, without coming across as too suspicious.

Not that we don't still steal from the muggles, but it's more heavily slanted towards information and equipment this time. Such as the formula of Starlite, an odd compound that's incredibly heat resistant. After all I plan to eventually use inferni. Fireproofing them just makes sense.

Towards that end I've already had one of my habitats converted into an area to raise rhinos. Although I don't really need many. Just enough to become familiar with the way they move. Although hopefully magic can be used to improve them without making them unable to be copied.

And as if that wasn't enough Sirius took a bunch of my idle notes on creating a sci-fi army and ran off with them. I'm curious to see what he does with it. After all he does seem to have a gift for enchanting vehicles.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The trainers, being muggles, were not aware of magic. However they accepted all the secrecy and nondisclosure contracts with only a few compulsions. Even the talking wolves didn't phase them much beyond some mutterings about genetic experimentation.

It wasn't even that hard. I simple had the house-elves quickly convert one of the habitats into a modern military base using lots of concrete and minor glamours. The ease the men with a military background accepted being confined to a small base meant I only needed to use a few compulsion charms.

For their part I'm sure the various types of dog trainers were finding this job priceless. The chance to get actual feedback and criticisms from the viewpoint of the canines was invaluable. Not that I didn't have the means to pay them.

While countries tracked precious metals, gemstones are usually ignored unless part of some other crime. And since one of the things Sirius had gotten a hold of for me was the technology to create my own synthetic gemstones, I had shortage of them. I couldn't create every type of gemstone, but the dozen I could create were among the most valuable. And best of all the goblins were just as eager to purchase the synthetic gems as they were normal ones.

The combat instructors actually had two jobs. The first group was a mix of martial artists and special forces instructors. Their job was to create a combat style that revolved around a weapon I had come up with.

The weapon is based off the .50 caliber Barrett rifle. It was set up with a bullpup design and then had the barrel extended until the weapon was a full five feet long. Since it used a duplication charm for ammunition the clip was replaced with a very compact, three round revolver magazine.

With the removal of the clip and the use of a low profile stock that basically looked like an L, the rifle was a perfectly straight pole. The butt was reshaped and slightly enlarged to serve as a warhammer and a spike was added in front of the pistol grip to allow for disarming moves. An elongated blade, shaped like a cross between a bardiche axe and bayonet, hung from the last two feet of the barrel and then extended for another two feet past the end.

The weapon was what I planned on having my human sized construct soldiers wield. Combined with eventual auror training and they were going to become my special forces. They were also my first real idea for creating a personal army and I really wanted to make them work. And of course I wouldn't have to wait for decades to build up a significant force of them.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Hermione was quickly catching up in magical studied as I spent a large portion of my time training with all the instructors. I did manage to push her into joining me regularly, at least with a few of the lighter exercises. She wasn't interested in any of the combat oriented training though.

Surprisingly my partner for those quickly became Luna. Although I probably shouldn't have been too surprised. Less than a week after giving her the invisibility cloak Luna managed to follow us into both the Room of Requirement and my trunk. Dobby, since he knew she was a friend, didn't stop her.

Thankfully Luna was even less likely than Hermione to trust anyone besides her friends. At least after I my adjustments. If anything her lack of any real attachment to anything meant she clung to the bond I extended all the tighter.

Dobby, the traitor, only encouraged her. Feeling that anyone as obviously devoted to me as she was was perfectly fine. Between Dobbins, Dobby and Luna I'm not sure who was the more fanatical. And it wouldn't surprise me at all to one day wake to find out they started a church dedicated to me.

Still I greatly enjoyed having a real sparring partner. I trusted Luna enough to put her through the same enhancement process Hermione had gone through, although I did set her strength a bit higher. Although Hermione was the one who had to check her Occlumency shields. In spite of or maybe because of how I fixed her mind, Luna's shields don't even seem to notice me. She's a completely open book to me.

Not to say that I understand her. She still views the world in a fairly unique way. Her insights were interesting and sometimes exactly what I needed. Which is why I had ended up bringing her into my projects.

It was her offhand comment about animal adoptions that reminded me of muggle surrogacy. I took a few trips to look it up and was excited to find it was already being used commercially. Which meant there were specialists I can recruit.

I was so happy I gave Luna one of the smaller intelligent wolf pups. It could serve as her friend and maybe a familiar. Even better it could protect her room. She loved it and promptly named it Ulfkin, which apparently means puppy.

Not all of Luna's comments were as useful, but they usually helped in small ways. Just as Hermione was rapidly becoming the person I relied on to keep things organized, I was coming to Luna to find solutions to tricky problems. Even sometimes unintentionally.

It felt like an idiot when Luna had asked me about trees that grow upside down, with their roots in the air. Until I realized I could pull off something like that. Sure upside down isn't too practical, at least with most plants, but she had given me an idea.

One of the main reasons I was adding the best soil I could to my habitats I realized I didn't need too. Sure the animals should have at least a few feet of dirt to walk on, but I didn't need it for farming. Aeroponic gardens had been gaining in popularity, ever since the first Genesis Machine was sold.

The only real drawback to aeroponics was power, since it required working pumps to constantly spray the nutrient mist across the roots. However magic let me get around that. Additionally I can keep the room constantly bright to have the plants grow even faster. A few temperature regulation charms and I don't have to worry about any overheating.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Hagrid is a genius. I'm a bit upset that I failed to realize this earlier. Well I guess I know why. The story presented him in a pretty terrible light. He drank far too much, couldn't keep a secret, and had no concept of danger.

However none of that changes the fact that Hagrid is a genius. And just how I came to that conclusion? Sirius finally managed to get ahold of and ship me a manticore.

In the story Hagrid creates Blast-Ended Skewts. They're a recklessly dangerous creature that can lunge using a tiny orion drive. They're also hostile to everything. And me made them by crossbreeding a firecrab with a manticore.

A firecrab can be bought as a pet and is bred for their shells. They're basically like tortoises armed with a blowtorch. And they grow up to three feet across.

A manticore is over ten feet long. It's also almost completely immune to magic and it's tail carries a poison that's only a step down from basilisk venom. Worse, it's intelligent, sadistic and arrogant. It also views people as food. And Hagrid convinced one to have sex with a bug.

Once I realize just how gifted he is with animals I waste no time in hiring him. Hagrid wasn't hard to convince. I just had to promise him plenty of room to keep his pets. That and give him a dragon. Which won't be difficult since a few of the projects I have involve dragons.

Sirius converts Black Island into an experimental breeding ranch and I hand over a list of every idea I've come up with so far. I also assign him a few house-elves and hire a few of my students to work with him. After all my first project is pretty ambitious.

Sirius had hired a surrogacy clinic for me to implant fertilized re'em eggs into normal cattle. Additionally I wanted Hagrid to crossbreed the manticore with sheep, several types of goats, rabbits, pigs and cattle. Hopefully at least one of them will be able to be used to create spell resistant cloth.

I also have him doing to same with a graphorn, demiguise, tebo and several other magical creatures that are known for the properties of their hide or fur. Including dragons. That ought to keep Hagrid happy for awhile.

I had already ordered several more trunks along with portals to house all the breeding programs. I also ordered a few normal vanishing cabinets to disguise the nature of my portable facilities.

The wizarding world seems to have less than a hundred magical species in it. Worse many of them are scattered in different parts of the world. If my breeding programs work though I'll eventually more than double that number.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

After recruiting Hagrid I was pretty bummed to find that almost everything I was working on just needed time to finish. No amount of resources will speed them up. Well besides maybe time turners, but I'm not comfortable chancing the Department of Mysteries at this point.

Without the projects distracting me I went back to my studies. Luna, who it turns out has been studying intensively, is close enough to my level that I take the time to catch her up. After all I like having a study partner and Hermione won't fit that role anymore.

Without me there, she had opted to race ahead in the more traditional and more importantly structured style of magic taught at Hogwarts. Hermione is well into fifth year material, but has barely made any progressed in silent, point or wandless casting.

Luna, with her easy acceptance of anything I tell her, is easy to guide into all three. Truthfully, given how fast she picks it up, I'm convinced she'll end up passing me before long. She might even reach my eventual goal of being able to intuitively wielding magic. I'm not actually certain if it's even possible, but it was one of my end goals.

All in all I would consider bringing in Luna to be one of my best decisions. She was proving to be just as valuable as Hermione and Sirius. Not that she didn't cause the occasional hiccup.

I should probably have realized Luna's unique perspective would occasionally come with drawbacks. Honestly though, given the condition I found her, I never would have suspected this to happen. Ginny Weasley, ardent fangirl, and inside the Room of Requirement without Occlumency shields.

It was probably a very good thing Luna doesn't have any shields against me. With how upset I was there was a chance I would have ripped the information out of her. My emotions still colored my magic enough that she flinched and broke my probe, but not before I got what I wanted.

I hadn't realized they were friends, despite being neighbors. After all Luna wouldn't have been so desperate for a friend if she had Ginny. From her memories though it seems Molly had forced them to break off the friendship since she didn't approve of Luna's father, Xenophilius, trying to raise her by himself. Molly really is a tyrant.

Which means Luna hadn't had a friend since she was nine and lost her mother. Combined with how the rest of our house treated her and I guess I can see why she trusted me so completely.

Except she still thinks of Ginny as a friend. And dipping into her mind shows she only approached Luna once she realized how close we were. Which would normally be harmless if Dumbledore didn't regularly scan everyone.

I have absolutely no desire to have Dumbledore interfering in my plans or worse opposing them. He seems to lack common sense, but there is no denying he's resourceful. And the blind faith so many have in him makes it all to easy for him to make 'suggestions'.

It's clear I'm going to have to do something. And judging by the look on Luna's face if I just obliviate Ginny I'm going to do the same to her. Except doing that may make her magic not trust me as much. Which, given how perceptive she sometimes is, Luna might notice.

I'm going to have to make a decision fast though. Luna looks as serene as ever, but Ginny is clearly getting more nervous. And not in a blushing near her crush sort of way.

Actually... Maybe I can use that.

Ginny does have a crush on me. Another dip into her mind confirms that it borders on obsession. Seeing her blush so heavily just from me paying attention to her settles it.

My only problem is Ginny is eventually going to want more than just friendship. Especially if I start magically adjusting her for loyalty. Luna is already exhibiting signs, but is unlikely to force the issue. Ginny is much more aggressive.

And there was no way I was going to give up Hermione. While I could probably convince Hermione to accept a polygamous relationship, I'm not sure if I want too. Ginny is cute enough, but she isn't beautiful.

As if in answer to my thoughts a stack of books suddenly appears in my hands. Ah. I had forgotten I was in the Room right now. I look at the first title.

Blood Magiks.

Huh. I absently stun the two girls and open the book to the page marked. A ritual? Form Alteration. Using blood to forcibly mold someones body to look like another. I can see this working. I just need blood from an appropriate target.

Something to consider later. I don't bother looking through the other books. I can always look at them later. Right now I need to deal with Ginny.

Once again I cast legilimency on Ginny. This time I don't just look at her memories. I quickly start going through them and start casting confundos. A single abrupt change of opinion can be spotted through Occlumency most times, but not a gradual shift in personality.

Even though I'm rebuilding her mind, I try to keep as much of Ginny's old mind as possible. It'll make her personality change stand out less to everyone else. I cringe a bit when I end up basing most of the changes around her obsession of me. She's really never going to leave me alone now.

Girls change all the time for a guy they like. This will just be an extreme version of that. And to finish the job I alter her last memory. A very slight blush on her image of my face, a dash of hope and heighten her nervousness.

I wake Ginny up while cradling her in my arms with an underpowered reenervate. She squeaks, blushes furiously and freezed in my arms. My legilimency tracks the thoughts floating in her mind and I cast a small confundo.

While in real life I lean down and gently kiss her the image I fed her was mixed in with one of her fantasies. Ginny, half-awake and happy to see her husband, pulls him in for a kiss. As soon as our lips touch I feel the contract in my pocket heating up, indicating it triggered.

Good. It still feels a bit wrong to alter the sexual preferences and fantasies of a young girl, but sacrifices must be made. And I know her mother would likely agree as long as Dumbledore asked her, blindly devoted as she is. So that's kind of parental consent.

"Ginny." I watch her swiftly come out of the mild daze the confundo and kiss had put her under. Awareness turned into alarm and then horribly embarrassment.

It was a painfully awkward conversation, explaining my relationship with Hermione and then inviting her to join me and Luna with our training. It didn't help I kept a steady stream of small confundos to steer her emotions in the right direction. Although given just how many she had and how many directions they were in I was surprised she hadn't fainted.

Then it was time to set up the enhancement process. First I entered her mind again and helped her build Occlumency barriers, enough to at least detect being probed. Without Snape, Dumbledore will have a hard time getting away with illegally probing students minds.

Then I go through the entire process. For Ginny I use the same potions I used, making her as strong as I am. If I'm going to keep her I need a role for her. Bodyguard and front line general seems to be something that would suit her well.

It's also why the contract will make her sexually submissive. Between my relationship with Hermione and that I can put off dealing with her obsession until much later. And with her strength it will probably help me survive if I do have an intimate encounter with her.

While Ginny is unconscious I work on Luna. I'd just stuck her under my invisibility cloak for now, but now used legilimency on her. I very carefully edited her memory so she believed she fell asleep while I explained the ritual to Ginny. Something I emphasized when I woke her up and explained she slept through the entire process.

Then I explained how I trusted Ginny since they were friends, but most of what I was doing needed to be kept secret. Legilimency let me see the suspicion and filters I had placed didn't fully integrate before. If what I'm seeing is right, they can't.

Luna just doesn't think that way. When she trusts, its blindly and completely. Sighing I guess I'll have to be satisfied that at least she doesn't have any other friends. Is it wrong that I hope she doesn't make any more?

Eh. She doesn't make any in the original story. Should be fine. Besides, she'll have Ginny and me. And Hermione, at least when she isn't studying.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The downside of now having Ginny follow me around all the time is the attention it draws. Dumbledore is easy enough to deal with. Ginny could detect legiimency probes now and started screaming bloody murder the first time he tried.

Her brothers were the real pests. The twins at least only tease me. And even that they backed off when I sicced them on Moony. Professor Lupin deserved it too for trying to convince me to leave Sirius. Too bad they didn't get much from him. Time seems to have sucked all the fun out of him.

Percy was distracted with his girlfriend, but still took the time to give me the big brother speech. Which was cute. It was a nice gesture though. I didn't even mind his occasionally popping up to keep an eye on her. It was probably something Dumbledore did anyway.

Ron was issue. He took the opportunity to 'visit' his sister as many times as possible. Which wasn't very often since there was no way I was going to let Ron find out about the Room. It helped that he kept talking down to the girls so they all disliked him.

The benefits on the other hand, were pretty amazing. Ginny had a streak of ruthlessness that Luna lacked. She was also much more eager to through herself into the more violent portions of the training. It wasn't long before I started sparring with her almost exclusively.

Surprisingly Hermione and Luna bonded soon afterwards. Working together on my terraforming project required both their talents. While Hermione was much better with calculations, Luna had the artisitc streak to make it feel natural. Even if some of the habitats ended up looking like they're from a fantasy game.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore sighed as he pondered the issue of what to do about Harry Potter. This year hadn't gone at all like he had planned. Remus had accepted a potions position, but Sirius had turned it down. He had no idea what Sirius was doing either.

His actions were just as childish as he had feared. Who buys a security troll company? It had been in the same family for four generations, and it wasn't like it was incredibly profitable.

Worse is that school he had started. Sure everyone said it was run by Harry Potter, but that was ridiculous. He was just a child. No, Dumbledore was sure Sirius was behind it. After all how would Harry even know who Mr Slughorn was?

Remus was a disappointment. Despite his nudges Remus hadn't managed to connect to young Harry. His few attempts had been met with anger. No doubt due to Sirius again.

It really was unfortunately that Sirius had managed to hide his trauma from Azkaban so thoroughly. He had even fooled the mind healers. Only he seemed to realize how deranged young Sirius must be. After all why else would he be working against the Light? It's sad, but it seems his blood proved too strong to fight against.

He really needed to find a way to negate Sirius's influence on young Harry. Children were just too impressionable. Looking at him gathering all those girls around him, no doubt inspired by Sirius's playboy behavior, Dumbledore could only shake his head.

How was Harry supposed to become the Leader of the Light if he wasted all his time chasing girls around. At least none of the girls came from a dark family. He had tried to separate young Ms Granger from Harry, but it seems his letter had failed. Likely the compulsion was countered by Sirius.

Ms Lovegood was a decent choice. While her father was a tad odd, both her parents had supported him during the last war. Still, she was too disconnected to the rest of the student body. Harry can't be a champion if he was estranged from everyone.

The only one he really approved of was Ms Weasley. Young Ginevra was a Weasley, and no Weasley had ever gone dark. And while the unfortunately incident with the legilimency scan was irritating, he didn't blame her.

No. Dumbledore blamed Sirius. What was he thinking! Teaching children Occlumency! Why would they need such a thing at their age. He was robbing them of the chance to enjoy their childhood.

This latest stunt in particular bothered him. Sirius had filed all the forms out to register a private yacht. Doubtless he was planning on taking Harry with him during the summer. Imagine, visiting other countries, gallivanting around when his relatives were exposed back home.

It was clear now Sirius was corrupting Harry Potter. At this rate Harry would never be able to fulfill his destiny. He didn't like it, but something was going to have to be done about Sirius. Sometimes sacrifices have to be made.


	9. Holiday

Chapter 9 Holiday

As soon as I finished my final exam I left Hogwarts. I had no intention of dealing with whatever stunt Dumbledore was arranging to try yet again to get me to stay with the Dursleys. If he did look for me, I left a nice letter and permission slip behind on my bed.

I made a few more arrangements as well. Since my portraits weren't finished with their notes I arranged with my house-elves to keep the current setup. Rubbish that would normally be dumped in the Room would be sorted and stored in my trunks and a rotating shift would maintain my control of the Room while I was gone.

The initial notes are done, but they portraits had decided to go through all of the homework essays in order to flesh out the notes as thoroughly as possible. Hopefully they'll be done before I return in a hear and a half.

Today marks the beginning of my summer vacation! Of course I can't leave just yet. I want to bring all my girls with me. And sneaking them out of the castle would tip off Dumbledore.

My first stop is the Granger home, which is probably my easiest stop. I didn't even have to talk to them. Instead I handed them a permission slip to travel with me embedded with a mild compulsion and confundo. They'll remember a very persuasive argument about studying abroad and Hermione begging to go.

My next stop was the Lovegoods. Unlike in the books, it looks like a very lopsided, rickety wooden tower. The movies really missed an opportunity there. A medieval stone tower would have been much more dramatic. Especially when the death eaters attacked it.

The door was answered by Xenophilius. Another odd thing. The movies really toned down just how eccentric he has supposed to be. Just like Dumbledore. No eye searing colored robes for either of them.

"Harry Potter." We shake hands. "I recognize you from my daughter's letters. Any friend of Luna's can call me Odd."

Huh. He looks perfectly serious. I'm not sure whether he's not taking the mickey out of me. Eh, skip it. "I'd like permission to take Luna with me on holiday." I hand over the permission slip I prepared.

"Of course, of course. As if I'd stand in the way of my little moon's happiness." Smiling widely, he handed the signed form back to me. As soon as I had it he abruptly turned around and closed the door. I looked down at the two forms in my hand, one the permission slip and the second a subscription for international fees for the Quibbler.

Well, he certainly seems better put together than I feared.

One last stop and it was in walking distance too. The Weasleys at the Burrow. Just like so many things the movie really did tone down how insane wizards tend to be. I really wish I had gone to see the Burrow in my first dimension. I was curious to see how close fanart had gotten to the jenga-like home.

I approached the Weasleys like the Grangers. There was no way Molly would ever let her daughter out of her grasp and both would likely ask Dumbledore his opinion before agreeing. And I just can't see him giving it.

So I went in wands blazing. Stunned both the parents and then scanned their minds. Sure enough they had received a letter from Dumbledore. Bloody Dumbledore and his letters! At least this time he didn't use a compulsion. Not that he needed it with Molly. She lapped up the bull he was selling without question.

Luckily, I have the Elder Wand. No one's strong enough to resist a confundo from it. A few spells later and they decided Dumbledore was overreacting and gave permission. After all they were already planning on going on holiday down to Egypt. What was a few more weeks?

I even preemptively got their permission to allow Ginny to withdraw from Hogwarts for a year. After all I planned on traveling for awhile and didn't want to be forced to make a trip back. Then I added a mild forgetfulness charm that'll last a few weeks. More than long enough to sail far away.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I spent the next few days going over the books the Room had recommended for me. There were a variety of methods listed besides the blood magic one. Attraction glamours, infatuation charms, a perfume that mimicked the allure. In the end I went with the simplest. A beautification potion.

A beautification potion makes the person who drinks it more attractive. It smooths blemishes and can even subtly alter features. I further customize it to target myself for the best results. Anyone who drinks it will have their appearance idealized to my preferences. Although it still won't me major changes.

I even had time to test it on Pet. That along with an aging potion had me dragging her into the bedroom for the rest of the day. At least until the potion ran out. I definitely like that option.

I ended up brewing an entire batch of beautification potions in the form of everlasting elixirs. After all cost really isn't a concern. I plan to offer all the girls the potion as well as take one myself. People do tend to treat attractive people better. And a year away will be long enough to blur memories and make the changes seem natural. Or at least not too obvious.

It's really a good thing that goblins hate anyone poking into their business and Sirius's family was so rich. Buying all the ingredients for the potions was positively ruinous. At least if I was anyone else.

Not to mention all the muggle currency I bought from the goblins. After all most wizarding areas are found inland. Using magic to get out of paying port fees just sounded like a bad idea.

Besides, I also needed to pay for my ever growing stockpile of supplies from the muggle world. Things like wardstones. In the wizarding world wardstones, used to anchor wards, are hideously expensive. Mostly because they have to be perfectly cut without any magic. In the muggle world I just pretended to an eccentric millionaire attempting to build my own castle. A single order later and thousands of custom blocks of stone were being delivered.

I didn't help that I was buying so many other mundane and magical plants and animals in bulk too. I wanted at least a score of additional habitats set up before leaving. After all I needed somewhere to keep all the new creatures I want to obtain during the cruise.

The evening we cast off I run one last errand. I apparate to the Gaunt shack and cast fiendfyre. Twenty minutes later I summon the remains of the ring out of the ashes.

There. Now I've destroyed four horcruxes and still have Ravenclaw's Diadem locked away. And unless Nagini was already created, which is unlikely, the diadem is Voldemort's last horcrux.

I was loath to destroy the diadem though. It was accidentally, but I had discovered at least one feature of it. It stored and sorted information.

I found out when I was asking the Room a number of random questions. It would play scenes that answered them. The surprise came when one of the scenes wasn't inside Hogwarts.

After a long series of tests I found out the Room was pulling the information from the diadem. Or rather, Voldemort's mind inside the diadem. It was amazing. I had access to everything Voldemort knew. At least everything until he was about thirty, when he created the horcrux.

Voldemort knew an amazing amount of information that wasn't taught in Hogwarts. Unfortunately most of it was still beyond me. And it would be years before I was advanced enough to create my own Room of Requirement.

Until then I was going to keep it safe. After all it would fix one of my major complaints with creating my own Room. The lack of memories. Emptying out the diadem into my new Room would give it an enormous head start. And there was no way I was going to leave it behind.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Sirius Black beamed proudly at the scene below him. His godson sunbathing on the deck of his yacht along with his three girlfriends. Sure Harry doesn't call them that yet, but he's seen the way they all look at him. And even better, how they look at each other. He remembers that look well. The Young sisters had that same look before agreeing to both go on a date with him at the same time.

Obviously his godson was taking after him. Doing his best to make him proud. And it was working!

And he can't fault his choices either. Sure Harry was limiting himself to only three girls, but after his stunt with the beautifying potions it's not like he's likely to find better birds. After all girls can get really competitive even when they're friends or perhaps especially when they're friends.

A goofy smile spreads across Sirius's face as he gets lost in memories for a moment. No, the other two girls will have their work cut out for them if they're going to try to share his godson between them. Especially given just how passionate Harry's current girlfriend is.

Sirius wasn't sure if they even realized it yet, but the cabins definitely aren't silenced. And while he wasn't a voyeur, hearing his godson enjoying himself never failed to bring a smile to his face. He really deserves all the happiness he could find.

Even if that means sneaking in a speaker charm to make the other girls jealous. Besides if Harry didn't want three girlfriends he shouldn't have given them all the potions.

He figures the speakers plus time should do the trick. He had already bribed the house-elves to take plenty of pictures for the family album he was planning on starting. So much blackmail material!

And that wasn't the only field his godson was taking after him. Harry had shown him the letter he intended to leave behind when he snuck out of Hogwarts. It had left him in stitches imagining Dumbledore reading the short, rude note. It was a masterful prank.

And some of the others he had planned were even better! Sirius hated dementors with a passion. He loved the idea of wiping them all out. He had been terrified, but unwilling to be left behind when Harry had tested the latest device he asked Sirius to enchant.

Massive animated copper chains had seemed like an odd request. Especially with serrated, diamond-edged hooks and blades on the ends. It was worth it though to see the flailing chains snagging dementors out of the air and casually tearing them apart.

He had asked, but Harry's explanation of mass and inertia was completely over his head. He still had no idea why Harry was intent on harvesting so many of the dementors, but didn't really care. The fewer of them around the better. He didn't even care that Harry decided to capture a few of them. After all he had already proved he could kill them.

When his godson had then proceeded to set the entire island of Azkaban on fire as they left, Sirius felt like dancing. Pressing the button that ignited the thousands of gallons of sludge was the best birthday present ever!

Lily was right. Clearly the muggle world had so much to offer. Such a simple thing, powdered metals and oil. But combined can burn creatures immune to fiendfyre. It was a prank worthy of Lily.

Lily had never been one for the small pranks. The cruel bullying. No, she thought bigger. She wanted to use large lethal traps against the death eaters. And it had worked at first. Then the retaliations began and it seemed everyone who had helped Lily started dying.

At the time Dumbledore had convinced them Voldemort was hunting them down. The Order had stopped using Lily's ideas and settled for trying to drive off death eaters without provoking Voldemort again. Now he suspected Dumbledore had sold them to Voldemort. Probably to protect his lover Snape.

Merlin he had been naive.

At least Sirius was trusted now. Harry had even let him be the one to pull off one last massive prank on the ministry. After the hell of Azkaban casting the imperius curse was surprisingly easy. And just as Harry suspected, the auror Yaxley was a death eater. Or at least had the tattoo. Which, given Harry's and Rita's description of how you got one, was enough for him.

Forcing him to sneak into the Unspeakables section was criminally easy. A simple invisibility cloak was all it took. Having him replace the prophecy orb with a transfigured mandrake was the kind of move Lily would have made. Harry really was taking after her.

After that he had Yaxley steal all the time turners. Harry had asked him to try and find a few and what ever better place than the source? And it wasn't even like it could be traced back since he had Yaxley blow himself and the Notts up later that night.

One of the few things Sirius will miss about leaving England is the chance to see Dumbledore's face when the next Skeeter book comes out. The Life and Lies of Tom Marvolo Riddle. With a nice fancy animation that rearranges the letters to spell out I AM LORD VOLDEMORT occasionally.

Between the truth being published for all to read and the destruction of Azkaban, if Voldemort returns he'll be in a much weaker position. Harry believes he'll return, which is good enough for him. He hasn't been wrong yet.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Most of the summer passed in a blur. With plenty of time turners me and the girls stretched out each day into three. I might have gone higher but was worried it'd be too unstable.

We had a simple schedule. The first day was for intense physical training. Which included lots of exercise, martial arts and even war games. Thanks to the enhancement process none of us had any problems despite how strenuously the trainers pushed us.

A large portion of the training involved elaborate dodge training. We actually timed it. Spells, at least combat spells which tend to move the fastest, have speeds that range from around twenty to thirty miles per hour. So our trainers set baseball pitcher machines to 35 mph.

Thank merlin the enhancement rituals were so effective. Not only were our reflexes and speed much higher than normal, but our bodies were much tougher. Otherwise we'd likely have suffered broken bones every session. As it was we still finished each day incredibly sore.

It also convinced the girls to start wearing armor. While our trainers only allowed basic armor so we still felt the impact, it lessened the damage. Which was more than enough for them. More importantly it got them used to moving and fighting in armor.

The second day was for magical study. Mostly we worked together as a group on the normal Hogwart's curriculum. After all we were going to have to prove our competency eventually. No point giving anyone ammunition by having any holes in our education. Besides, the basics were important. They're called the fundamentals for a reason.

We had to spend quite a bit of time working with Ginny and to a lesser extent Luna to catch them up. After all until recently they were normal first years. Frustratingly for Hermione, both of them quickly passed her in wandless magic. Luna's unique perspective let her easily adapt. And Ginny's obsession meant she accepted my word as gospel. Which is a bit unsettling, but useful right now.

Hermione in return remained far ahead of us in runes and silent casting. I used to have a natural gift for mathematics. Intuitively understanding and even solving higher order equations. It seems to have carried over since I found arithmancy coming to me naturally.

It's not the only thing I found carried over. I used to love cooking, experimenting with various recipes. I was a bit impatient though, so tended to avoid the more complicated dishes. Thanks to bleed over from Harry Potter's memories I found that was no longer the case.

My house-elves still didn't like me using the kitchen so I made a deal with them. I can use it to cook as long as I don't cook actual meals. Instead I will experiment and teach them how to cook my recipes. Of course since house-elves are incredibly attuned to their masters, this rapidly turned into me standing in the middle of the kitchen giving directions and occasionally sampling the various dishes.

Not that the house-elves needed to cook. I had already created what I called a recipe box. A small expanded case that preserved and stored meals and duplicated them on command. I was organizing and filling them fairly quickly with all of my experimenting.

That wasn't the only thing I used the duplication charms for. All the experimenting usually resulted in me creating dozens of dishes at the same time with minor differences between each one. I must have gone through a ton of supplies every week tweaking all the dishes I knew and learning new ones. Certainly the schools of fish that started following us appreciated my efforts.

Cooking also helped me with potions. Between the notes from Slughorn, Snape, Dumbledore and others we had plenty of instructional material. And best of all thanks to focal rods designed to allow squibs to brew potions I'm fairly confident I can eventually create an automated assembly line for brewing at least some potions.

The third day was the only one we spent on the actual ship. It was most for relaxing. We still had a couple of hours of light workouts and studying, but that was all.

We spent quite a bit of time swimming. The gillyweed farm in one of my habitats was doing well and was more than enough to provide us with all we needed. It's not like we were in any real hurry so stopping for a few hours wasn't an issue. And repelling charms kept anything from attacking us.

It was beautiful down there. The clear waters full of darting, shimmering forms. It was also a good way to collect a variety of ocean predators for my habitats. Sharks, swordfish, dolphins and even a pod of killer whales. Even a few whales.

It wasn't like I was going to have trouble keeping any of them. While nine square miles isn't much for some of the creatures, none of them were magical. So a simple shrinking charm later and the tanks were proportionately hundreds of times larger. And single ward can maintain the effect on all the creatures within a habitat.

Which meant of course that many of my plans for farms and ranches needed to be rethought. After all if cattle were the size of cats I can literally house tens of thousands of them inside a single habitat comfortably. And I don't need fifty or a hundred feet of space either. Twenty would be more than generous. It looks like I'm going to have to order more customized trunks again.

Since I was already ordering trunks I commissioned a necklace similar to mine for each of my girls. And Sirius too, because why not. Each of the necklaces were linked to mine by portals and would serve as backup storage. After finding out just how easy it was to destroy goblin silver I didn't want to chance being forced to start over from scratch.

We all practiced Occlumency every day in our cycles though. One thing we all wanted were the strongest possible shields. It also improved our studies as well as allowed our minds to learn new languages easier. Something we were constantly working on.

The Crouch family had created the method of magically absorbing new languages with just a few potions. It was fairly expensive, but the Black family was known to be rich. No one thought anything of it when he purchased a complete set of potions for every language they offered. And thanks to the portraits made of the department heads, one of which was Bartemius Crouch, we knew how to brew them. Once one of us learned a language we could easily brew more potions for the others.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Ginny Weasley felt like every day was a fairy tale. And not one of the mean ones. But one of the amazing ones in the Disney films they had been watching recently. It was just like being in the Harry Potter books!

They were studying way advanced magic and she loved having Harry explain things to her. He was so gentle and patient and nice about it all. She could just picture him holding her in her arms and sweeping her off her feet.

Except he has a girlfriend.

Hermione. And as much as Ginny wanted to she didn't have anything against her either. Hermione was really nice. Like an older sister who you could always rely on.

And it was clear Harry was crazy about Hermione too. That was easy enough to see. And hear.

Especially at night when they went to bed. The walls were thin enough you could hear everything they were doing. Which made her hot and embarrassed. But not enough to tell them or even to use a silencing charm.

Every night she fell asleep listening to them. The sounds they made coloring her dreams. Often she would wake from them gasping and sweating. And listen to them going at it again. Didn't they ever sleep!

Ginny found she wasn't very upset with Hermione. Waking up in such as good mood every morning after and while listening to them made it hard to feel anything but happy. And the fact that he gave her a beauty potion too meant he saw her as a girl! Which meant there was still hope! Although after spending time around them she was afraid that even if Harry did date her she wouldn't be able to satisfy him.

Not that she wasn't interested. She had a crush on him before. The potion made it a hundred times worse. Sometimes she'd suddenly realize she had lost track of time, mostly when Harry was explaining something.

One of the main reasons she enjoyed physical training days so much was because they trained together. Harry would be right there next to her, all sweaty and heroic. And afterwards they all used the hot tub.

Feeling the swirling hot water was amazing. She felt all relaxed and it was like all her muscles stopped being sore. Even her bruises stopped aching. Sometimes Harry would even join them. And staring at a naked Harry always made her feel better.

Even seeing Harry and Hermione cuddle wasn't bad. Luna had demanded her own cuddles once and ever since he let them both cuddle while Hermione would sit in his lap.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Luna opened the door and crept into the room under several silencing charms and her invisibility cloak. She suppressed a yawn. She didn't like waking up this early, but her curiosity prodded her into action.

Ever since the hot tub yesterday she couldn't get the thought out of her mind. Luna would have dismissed it but her dreams last night were very convincing.

While she liked the hot tub, especially once Harry agreed to hug her too, yesterday was different. Ginny liked hugs too and harry was nice so he hugged them both. And since Hermione got their first she got to sit in his lap.

Instead of relaxing though, yesterday Harry had been all stiff and uncomfortable. And then both he and Hermione had started breathing hard and making odd sounds. Ginny had heard it too and gone all red and stiff too, which was messing up the whole hugging experience. You're supposed to be relaxed and happy when hugging!

The important part though was after they had both gasped, just like when they missed a dodge, and then started twitching. Well that was when the import part happened. She had seen something. It had disappeared quickly, but it had looked familiar.

Which is why she's here now. To find their secret stash. They should have known better than to try and hide it from her. After all she's been an investigative journalist since she was ten!

Luna, senses very alert, watched intently as Hermione played with Harry's boy parts. From the sounds they were about to take one of their short breaks. And there! She saw it!

Luna stared at wonder as Harry shuddered and sprayed out white goo. That came from inside him! She always knew Harry was special. He was her best friend in the world. It only made sense that he could create pudding. She bets it was special pudding too! That's why Hermione keeps trying to get more!

It was greedy to try and keep it for herself. From now on Hermione needs to share.

Since sharing is an adult problem Luna asked Sirius for help. Her daddy never wanted to talk about boys, but Sirius was more than happy to explain everything. He talked all about the things girls could do to get pudding. Although despite his name he kept laughing.

The next night Luna waiting until the alarm went off. The bed was super comfy, but the quest for pudding called her. She was a bit surprised not to hear anything. Sometimes she thought Harry and Hermione didn't need to sleep.

She quickly made her way over to their room and went over Sirius's advice. She decided to use her mouth since it seemed to make the most sense. After all why use your hands to catch it first? That was just wasteful.

At first it was just kind of salty. Not bad, just the same as Harry's shoulder the one time she licked him while hugging in the hot tub. It felt odd, like using a giant straw with a slurpee that had a piece of ice stuck inside it.

She listened carefully though. After months of hearing it, Luna knew every sound Harry makes. She tried out different things until she got the sounds she wanted.

Harry's gasp barely gave her any warning. Suddenly her mouth was flooded with thick liquid. Despite being salty and not sweet it was delicious. It was warm like a hug and made her feel awake and happy. Luna could feel her body shudder in pure joy. It. Was. So. Good.

"Luna?"

Blearily she raised her head. After all it would be rude to ignore Hermione while in her room. It was hard though. The pudding had made it hard to think.

"What are you doing here?" She would have thought that obvious. As Hermione asked her more questions she started feeling herself drift off. After all she had woken up really early.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Listening to Luna's half-awake answers to Hermione's increasingly annoyed questions Sirius had to struggle to hold in his laughter. That had gone even better that he expected!

When Luna had first approached him asking about Harry's pudding he couldn't believe it. Then he remembered the last time he had seen Xenophilius. It was likely Luna didn't even know what she was asking. So as the adult, and more importantly Harry's godfather, he had sat Luna down for a very frank and in depth conversation.

Sirius wasn't sure if Harry had actually planned on creating a harem. It was more likely he was just trying to be nice to all his friends. But he had seen the Harry start glancing at the other girls ever since he gave them that potion. And it was his job to make sure his godson was as happy and spoiled as possible.

Besides, Harry needed to lighten up. Even with friends he was constantly pushing himself. Either training, studying or preparing for possible threats. That was no way to live his live.

No. Harry was going to learn to relax and have fun even if he had to bury him in girls.

The fact that it would provide the house-elves with plenty of opportunities to take pictures was just icing on the cake.

Not that fooling around was all they did. Sirius was well aware of just how hard they pushed themselves. Especially since he often joined them for at least parts of it. He still wanted to provide them with plenty of space. He remembers how rebellious he felt as a teenager and Harry was very independent.

Sirius had even gone through the same enhancement process they used. It had less of an effect since he was long since past puberty, but at least he could keep up now. And it wasn't like they were wasting their time since they had access to the Elixir of Life.

He had fallen to the floor laughing when Harry had told him how he tricked Dumbledore by stealing the Philosopher's Stone. The fact that he got Snivellus and the Malfoys at the same time made it even better. Now all Harry needed was an animagus form and he'd be a true Marauder.

Now there's an idea. Their occlumency is coming along nicely. A few more months at this pace and they could probably even be ready for the mandrake leaves.


	10. Gap Year

Chapter 10 Gap Year

Albus Dumbledore wasn't sure what to expect when he received the letter from Sirius Black. Despite his best efforts Sirius and more importantly, his godson Harry Potter, had managed to leave Britain and he hadn't been able to find them since.

He had even resorted to sending Fawkes to retrieve young Harry. That had been two months ago. The fact that his phoenix had yet to return was more than a little unsettling. He couldn't think of many reasons Fawkes' absence and none of them were good.

Dumbledore didn't wish to believe it, but it was clear Sirius and Harry were treading down a dark path. How else could they bring themselves to act against a phoenix?

Hoping the letter will provide some clues he quickly read the letter.

It was the portraits who broke him from his stunned state. Dumbledore shook himself and looked at the letter again. It was impersonal, containing no mention of Fawkes. Instead it contained four student withdrawal slips.

Harry Potter was obviously the first and most disastrous. Sirius had authority issues and resisted even the most well meaning guidance. He was terribly self-destructive. Worse his immature behavior was threatening the wizarding world now.

Hermione Granger was a bit surprising. He had thought his letter would be more than enough to break up their relationship. Clearly it failed since Sirius was writing to him as Hermione's magical guardian.

Even Luna Lovegood didn't concern him much. The small, shy Ravenclaw had become fast friends with Harry in the last few months of school. And Xenophilius was always prone to wild fits of fancy. Something his daughter seems to have inherited.

It was Ginevra Weasley that really perplexed him. The Weasleys had always been followers of him and the Light. The fact that he had expressed concerns about their daughter should have had them keeping her far away from Harry.

Yet here was their signature on the permission slip. Even going so far as to transfer temporary guardianship to Sirius in a remarkable show of trust. And directly against everything Dumbledore had been telling them!

Something about the situation was off. Dumbledore smiled. No Weasleys had even been dark so clearly this wasn't their doing. Sirius must have done something.

There likely wouldn't be any proof, but the Dumbledore had long since mastered the art of using half-truths and misleading statements. He didn't need proof. He just needed to cast enough doubt to get some leverage.

The threat of being charged for kidnapping should be enough. It was really too bad Azkaban had burned down early this summer. Even the hint of dementor involvement would likely cow Sirius.

Dumbledure grinned when he got an idea. No, the destruction of Azkaban could actually benefit him. After all who else but an escaped prisoner would know the secrets of the prison well enough to destroy it. And as a Black it was reasonable he'd have family spells that could burn more thoroughly than fiendfyre.

Even the absence of dementors can work for him. Clearly they were incensed over the loss of their home and were chasing after Black. Potentially spreading them around the world and exposing them to muggles.

Dumbledure popped a lemon drop into his mouth and relaxed as he plotted. No, everything had just been a minor setback so far. His plan was still workable.

He had to remain strong. Soon enough Harry and Tom will kill each other and he'll be able gently guide all those poor misunderstood dark families to the proper way of thinking.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The Weasley twins were feeling conflicted. On one hand, Harry Potter had proven to be a very reliable ally. He had invested heavily into their dream and what he asked for was very reasonable.

In fact even his demands had benefited them. The grimoire for storing their notes was an amazing piece of enchantment. Unlimited pages, heavy wards and a number of other benefits. It made organizing their notes a breeze. And after seeing it melt one snoopy Ravenclaw's hand they didn't have to worry about anyone stealing them either.

To say nothing of the property Harry had agreed to rent them.

On the other hand, Harry had made off with their sister. Sure she wanted to go. Little gin-gin had been in love with Harry Potter for years. Given the chance to run off with him and of course she took it. As her big brothers though they were still obliged to hate him. Or at least tease him mercilessly.

Honestly they were more surprised their mum had agreed to it. Sure she spouted off something about compulsions, except there wasn't any evidence. Not even the doctors at St Mungos had found anything.

Bill and Charlie were busy with work and couldn't take time off just to wander around looking for their sister. They had also privately let them know she had been writing to them.

Percy didn't seem to care. All wrapped up in his girlfriend and being a prat. He didn't see any problem since all the paperwork was all filled out. What a git.

After their mum, Ron was the most vocal. Constantly yelling about how evil Harry was and how Voldemort had been scared of a rival dark lord. How thick was that? A baby dark lord.

And of course there was Ginny herself. She had written them a few letters over the summer. Talking about her training and all the places she visited and the creatures she saw. Even sneaking them a few ingredients from them.

Which made their course clear. They were going to support their clearly lucky sister in pursuing her dream. Or at least having fun. The fact that Harry had gotten it by their mum was the one of the greatest pranks ever!

Almost as good as the book Sirius had sent. The package was labeled Mischief Managed and signed Padfoot, which already made it a prized possession. The fact that they were sent a copy a week before it came out and it was also on the official book list made it inspirational.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Albus Dumbledore, Leader of the Light and Defeater of Grindelwald, sighed in frustration. Hailed as one of the greatest wizards of all time and he was being losing to a book. The Life and Lies of Tom Marvolo Riddle, had come out just before the school term started. Worse someone had confundoed the Hogwarts quill to list it in place of the standard history textbook.

He hadn't even realized the book existed until dinner last night when a student had asked the Gray Lady a question about Tom. It was too late to do anything about it too. The book was proving widely popular. Many of the older students who hadn't taken NEWTs History still ordered a copy.

Rita Skeeter had always been more an annoyance than a threat. An easily ignored pest. This book was different. The fact that it contained a complete list of names of the death eaters was already causing problems.

Then it had talked about initiation ceremonies in enough detail to nauseate all but the most hardened. And proceeded to explain just how a series of bribes and corrupt relatives had allowed so many to escape justice.

It even blamed him! Perverting his message of forgiveness into a parody of itself. It was an insidious piece of work. Twisting situations around to convince them he had been wrong. Rita had even used the worst examples, ones that were clearly anomalies, to support her misleading conclusions.

The worst part was that Rita had refrained from using so much as a single lie, completely uncharacteristic of her. Which meant he couldn't refute the work as a pack of lies without being caught.

And getting to Rita wasn't going to be possible. As soon as he was aware of the issue he had done some checking. Rita had long since gone on sabbatical. Likely hiding from retaliation.

He just couldn't understand why someone would write something like this. It never did anyone any good to dwell on the past. Forgiveness was needed to move forward. Unfortunately not many were willing to just accept his word on the matter.

It broke his heart to see so many sneer at him when he tried to explain. Poor misguided souls. Clinging to their past hurts. Can't they see they're just hurting themselves?

Dumbledore had thought the worst part of the new school year was the fact that Harry Potter hadn't returned. No doubt still gallivanting around with his feckless godfather. Suddenly he froze in thought.

Just where did Rita get her information?

Many of the things mentioned were secret. So secret in fact that he was certain no one else knew them. After all you can't interview someone who's long since passed away. And he had made sure to get rid of any physical evidence.

Except there was another person who knew all of the same facts. After all, those secrets all involved him.

Tom Marvolo Riddle. And Harry just so happened to be carrying a piece of him around.

Dumbledore froze in horror. The fact Harry knew so much could only mean the horcrux was leaking. Without the blood wards to contain it, it was only a matter of time before Harry was possessed.

How could he have been so careless. He had thought since Harry had been summoned that possession wasn't an issue. Even his faded scar had supported that thought.

Maybe it had been absorbed beforehand? Lingering emotions from Voldemort would certainly explain Harry's antagonistic attitude towards himself.

And if Harry had spoken with Rita it was likely Sirius had been the one to confund the Hogwart's quill. It was clear Sirius had no intention of reigning in young Harry. In fact he seemed to be encouraging him!

As much as he regretted it, Dumbledore was going to have to take stronger measures. He already knew what he had to do. He had just been hesitant to take sure a step.

It was always a sad day when a noble house vanished. A piece of history lost. But for the good of the wizarding world the house of Black was going to have to be disbanded.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Duncan Hammerhand surveyed his plot of land with a contented air about him. For all his youth, Harry Potter had done right by him and his kind.

When he had first been approached with an offer of sanctuary and employment he had been skeptical. Wizard-kind had basically ignored the dwarves for centuries. Only occasionally hiring them for small temporary jobs. It was humiliating, but was better than starving.

Still, beggars can't be choosers and he had accepted on behalf of his clan.

In the years since he hadn't regretted it once.

The land was small and enclosed, but plenty large enough for their meager numbers. Better still it was theirs. Even though they trained with a number of other races, including trolls and speaking wargs, they took a tunnel to another area for that. Everyone had to get permission to visit other groups territory. All official like.

It was a very satisfying feeling having a place to call your own. It was something they all shared. They had lost much of their culture when the goblins destroyed their kingdoms, but they still understood honor.

Master Harry had done a bang up job setting them up too. Plenty of food and drink and generous homes. Harry was helping them to rebuild, better than before. He had kept his word. In return they would keep theirs.

They threw themselves into helping. Ignoring just how wrong so many of the humans felt in order to cooperate in designing and testing their future equipment and even fighting style. The equipment was all new and some of it was plain crazy. But it all worked. Seeing spells shatter his brothers armor only for him to stand right back up unharmed was incredible. And the weapons were just plain terrifying.

Small showers of flying razors and insanely fast blasting spells were the stuff of legend. Not even the best goblin weapons had ever been so powerful. There were grumblings about the strange and powerful weapons, but in the end they all got used to them.

It was worth it. Master Harry wasn't a fan of the goblins. It was likely they would be allowed to face them eventually. The possibility alone was enough to have every dwarf push themselves until they collapsed.

They're numbers were still too low. As leader, he had been the one to talk with Master Harry the most. His vision was one Duncan loved. An entire city of dwarvenkind. Thousands living here, free and proud.

It would take time.

Duncan had spread the word and even with a half dozen other clans joining they still numbered less than a hundred. Not that they were the only small group.

The wargs only numbered around twenty or so. If the giant, black furred, talking wolves didn't unnerve him so he might even feel a bit sorry for them. The trainers pushed them brutally. Enough so that a number had died already. They used to number twice what they do now.

At least the trolls were doing well. And that was a thought he never figured he'd have. And while he'd probably never invite one to his home they were more than welcome when it did come down to fighting.

Size and strength are significant advantages in many situations. Especially if they distract enemies from targeting his fellow dwarves. And the weapons they were training with, the ones that sprayed flesh dissolving liquid, were absolutely horrifying. He still has nightmares from the demonstration.

The last and smallest group were the humans. And not a one of them was normal. The trainers, the majority, were all slightly off somehow. They all wore armor and masks and seemed to have the personality sucked out of them. They did good work though, so he put up with them.

All that paled in comparison to his lord. Harry Potter, savior of the wizarding world, was just a boy at first look. A might scrawny and disadvantaged given his glasses. Not to mention he's just a wee lad.

Then they had their first joint training exercise.

Harry wasn't a child. He wasn't even human. He was a monster. A cackling demon that danced across the battlefield as he casually dodged every attack and threw trolls around like toys.

His girls might be even worse. Hermione was all bookish and didn't like scrapping. She knew an awful lot of magic though and seemed to delight in burying people alive. Sure the masks give you fresh air, but no one likes being sucked down into thick black mud.

Luna almost seemed like a damned seer, if they could see their own future. She had a knack for spotting ambushes or traps no matter how well hidden. She could be surprised, but it was damn hard and the same trick never worked twice. She also always seemed to use the one tactic you hadn't planned on. That is if it had even been thought of at all.

Ginny was in many ways the simplest to fight. She was much like their lord, power and speed. She was much more aggressive though. Preferring to simple bull through everything, trusting in her reflexes to save her.

Simple didn't mean easy though. She was just as strong as their lord and paired with her aggression often hit much harder. Fighting her was often direct, short and very painful. Duncan was still astonished she hadn't managed to kill anyone yet.

It also made it all the more confusing when they started arguing. They'd have a fight for the silliest of reason, screaming and pulling hair, and then one of them would slip and throw the other a hundred feet.

Still, as bad as four were nothing was as nerve wracking as the occasional delivery of mystery creatures. They were always highly magical, very aggressive and usually possessed some quirk that made dealing with them a pain. From a few comments they were all created by someone named Hagrid. He had never met him, but he could only imagine what kind of sadistic fiend would create such horrors.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore felt like cursing. He didn't of course. He had an image to maintain. But the letter from the goblins was not good news. They had been his final hope and it was now gone.

Molly Weasley hadn't been difficult to persuade back to his way of thinking. She had positively leapt at the chance to get her daughter back. She had immediately filed kidnapping charges against Sirius Black.

That's where the problems started. Sirius had guardianship papers over young Ginevra. Normally Dumbledore could quietly shuffle away the right papers and talk to a few people and it would be rendered void.

Except Sirius had filed the papers with the International Convention of Wizardry. Despite being the Supreme Mugwump, Dumbledore didn't have nearly the sway there that he had in Britain. None of them were willing to take his word that it was for the best to nullify the papers. In fact they all but accused him of illegal tampering! As if doing what was right could be against the law.

Next Dumbledore had appealed to the minister. Cornelius, without Malfoy whispering in his ear, was once again reliant on Dumbledore for advice. While the minister disliked risking damaging his reputation by moving against Sirius Black, his love of gold proved stronger.

While it would be a pity to strengthen the dark families, it was a necessary step in order to strip Black of his family seat and vaults. Besides the Crabbe family, the next closest relatives, would likely waste all that money in a generation or two. Not to mention the substantial bribes Cornelius would likely extort from them.

The seat was easy enough to transfer. Sirius had never officially taken up his seat so it was treated as vacant. The problem came with the vaults. Or rather the lack of them.

As the letter from Gringotts stated, Sirius had closed all of his vaults days before leaving Britain. It wasn't just the vaults. All the Black properties had been sold off.

He didn't even own any shares in any local businesses any longer. They had been exchanged instead of sold. Traded for shares in remote, foreign businesses like dragon preserves and re'em ranches.

Sirius had also somehow kept that bit of information hidden from everyone. Likely through several bribes, although it doesn't matter now. It was far too late to try and block such a move.

Even worse the Potter vaults had likewise been closed. Goblins never simply gave away information. The fact that the goblins had volunteered that bit of information could only mean one thing. Sirius had paid them to do so.

Sirius had anticipated Dumbledore's move. Had in fact anticipated it months before he even had the idea. And now he was gloating over it.

No.

Dumbledore refused to admit defeat. To give up hope. There was still the prophecy. He just needed to find a way to save the situation. After all you can't run from your destiny.

He won't be able to count on Cornelius for a while. The minister was furious that he had taken a risk and gotten nothing for it. In his current mood, he was likely oppose anything Dumbledore attempted out of spite.

For now he contented himself with waiting. There isn't anything that can be done right now and the smear campaign he had started was only just now gaining any momentum.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Ginny Weasley, hopefully soon Ginny Potter, grinned at the enormous, but still adorable baby. She cooed in delight at the infant who was almost the same size as her. She hadn't expected Harry's crossbreeding experiments with trolls and oni to be so cute.

She had enjoyed pretty much every day of the tour so far. While only a single year had gone by three years had passed for her. Every day has been like a dream. She had amazing friends, was learning incredibly magic and best of all she had Harry Potter!

Sure this wasn't the princess dreams she used to have, but this was better. This was real. She now knew she would never have been satisfied to be a meek housewife. She had always secretly wanted to be one of the ones out there doing things.

So secretly even she didn't know it since that part of her had been beaten down by her mother. Well, no one will ever be able to do that again. Well Harry can, but he would never do so. And this cute giant baby was part of why.

Out of all of them she had taken to the combat training the best. Hermione and Luna were both much smarter than her, but they didn't enjoy fighting. They trained because Harry did and they didn't want to be left behind. It gave her the edge.

Only Harry could still beat her. Even though they had used to same rituals he was still just so incredibly fast. Fighting him was frustrating since you could only win when he was barely trying. Even holding back didn't always help since he liked traps and clever tricks.

Not like her. She liked to face her enemies head on. Not that there had been many of those.

Over the cruise they had only been attacked a handful of times. Most of those were just muggle pirates. It had still been an amazing experience to fight so many people and completely destroy them.

In fact she had started finding it harder and harder to hold back during training. The baby was Harry's answer to her problem. It was one of the reasons she loved him so much. He didn't try to force her to change, to hold back more. Instead he just gave her stronger sparring partners.

Japan didn't have trolls or giants. Instead they had oni. Horned humanoid beings a little larger than a troll, but as strong and tough as a giant. They also had the coolest weapon. Harry had already promised to make her a very special tetsubo for christmas.

Unfortunately oni were also very territorial and largely solitary. Hence the crossbreeding.

The baby was from the second successful batch. The first was over a year old and growing at an astounding rate. They were also not attempting to wander off.

Ginny's grin grew wider as she tickled the baby. "Soon my precious. Soon you'll grow big and strong. Maybe even as strong as me. And then you'll get to fight all to your heart's content."

Her eyes glazed as she pictured something in her mind before suddenly focusing back on the baby. "We're going to have so much fun!"

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation when she heard Ginny creepily whispering to the baby. Hopefully this new creature will work out. She feels a bit sorry for it already. Ginny had been having a lot of trouble finding things to train against.

The trolls were all terrified of her and kept running away. The giants refused to physically back down from anything so small. Which meant they usually fought until they died. And of course the creatures were too valuable or dangerous to give her the intense workouts her sister wife favored.

And wasn't that an odd thought? Sister-wife.

It was appropriate though. She didn't join a harem, she joined a family. Gaining a husband and two sisters at he same time. Well not exactly husband since Harry hadn't gotten around to proposing. But it was only a matter of time.

In fact it was going to be fairly soon or she'd just drag him to an altar. After all, there was no way she was going to give birth out of wedlock. No child of hers would be a bastard.

Pregnancy seemed to have really mellowed her. Well it started much earlier than that. As time had gone by she no longer felt the desperate need to touch Harry and prove to herself he still liked her. The other girls joining in hadn't helped her insecurities.

She had long since stopped worrying about belonging. In fact Luna and Ginny had been the second best thing to ever happen to her. Harry of course, being the first.

Not that security meant she didn't still take time to play with Harry's body. In fact she sought him out more often now. Pleasuring Harry was a familiar activity that she found fun and soothing.

After so many years she knew his body better than her own in some ways. The way his breathing changes, the subtle twitching of his muscles, the gasps and groans and way he buries his face in her hair. Sex was nice, but nothing beat sitting in his lap and stroking him to completion. She absolutely loved how Harry would always let her take charge even while holding her.

Every time any frustration or worries would just melted away. Although that often had just as much to do with theirs talks afterwards.

Neither Luna or Ginny were ready to have children yet. Well Luna might be, but she was all wrapped up in her own project. Personally though it had just seemed right.

Everything had seemed to come together. The terraforming projects were finally at a point where it was self-perpetuating. Even if they never imported anything else they'd eventually be able to finish the habitats. They might lack diversity, but they'd be usable.

Their training had peaked and without monumental effort, like Ginny was doing, they were unlikely to get much better. Well except for Harry, who was clearly cheating. Even if she didn't know how. Or really care.

Not that she was bored. She still worked on the terraforming project. It was just at a much more leisurely pace. Every culture they visited gave her ideas for setting up another architecturally unique habitat. And of course Luna keeps bombarding her with requests to set up habitats for all the specimens she collects.

Still it wasn't enough to keep her busy. And despite raiding bookstores at every magical community they visited, her progress was slowing down. Too much of what constitutes mastery level work requires hands on training or just lots of practice.

So she was taking a break.

She had taken some time to check on the house-elves. And after seeing all their tiny adorable babies she just knew she had to have one of her own. And now that she had finally finished setting up their own Room of Requirement she felt it was the perfect time to start making memories she can treasure forever.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Luna Lovegood, only a few feet away from her sisters, rolled across the grass giggling madly. Poor, poor Hermione. Even now determined to have Harry's first child. She doesn't even realize Yuki-onna children aren't really related to their father. Reproduction for them is closer to how vampires propagate.

Maybe it was because they had sex? Hermione hadn't acted this way around the Currael after all. And they were breeding with Harry. They only use their mouth though so maybe she doesn't think of it as the same?

Which would be just silly. And probably the fault of her muggle upbringing. Well parents since Harry didn't have that problem. But he's special so maybe doesn't count. And he doesn't have any kids since all the veela were married now. And not to him. Which didn't happen with the yuki-onna. Can't actually.

In many ways Yuki-onna could be considered cousins to Veela. They're both species made up of beautiful females with pure white skin. However those are the only similarities. Everything else was closer to a reflextion.

Where a Veela had golden shining hair, a Yuki-onna possessed hair so pure a black it seemed to be made of shadows. Veela can instinctively transform and wield fire when angered. Yuki-onna wield cold, frost and snow, but in a deliberate calculated manner that requires training. Where Veela have the allure, Yuki-onna can become invisible. And finally where Veela can only mate with muggles in order to remain pure, Yuki-onna can only mate with wizards.

Luna had always been interested in magical species, so when they visited Japan she had gone exploring. When she had first run into the feral pack of Yuki-onna, she had done what she usually did and captured them. After all, she had been hoping to run into some.

And it wasn't like they were really dangerous. A few warming charms and her enhanced strength kept them from draining her and she had long since enchanted her eyes to act like spectrospecs, enabling her to see auras. Her father really was brilliant, even if rather insane.

Yuki-onna, like the oni they found earlier and many other native species, had been driven to near extinction. The Japanese magical community, much like the rest of their society, was very clannish. They tended to settle near relatives and formed very tight communities.

The problem was that the nuclear bombs had struck the two cities in which almost all the native wizards lived. Obviously not accidentally since the American wizards had established an embassy almost right after.

The Americans hadn't reestablished the same relationships with the magical species or yokai. In fact the new department had labeled Yuki-onna as dangerous beasts because of how they preyed on wizards.

It wasn't even their fault! Yuki-onna needed wizards to breed and the Americans had wiped most of them out. It made sense they might have come on a bit strong once more wizards showed up. And wizards who weren't powerful enough couldn't survive prolonged exposure to the Yuki-onna's freezing aura.

But Harry had plenty of power. Even better he had some way of becoming even stronger. She read the news. All of it. So she had quickly been able to put together the random disappearances with Harry's sudden boosts in ability. So she had accidentally left a computer article open one day and when she later read about Wim Hof disappearing she knew he'd survive.

Luna had then taken the Yuki-onna and wiped their minds and started reprogramming them. Harry was incorporating elements of bushido and samurai to the dwarves, but she thought that was boring. She had a much better idea.

She was going to create magic ninjas! Yuki-onna were already sneaky and liked ambushing people so they were perfect for it. A few weak silencing and notice-me-not charms and they'd be even better at sneaking! Maybe tie the silencing charm into their invisibility. And if you tied the notice-me-not into some preset glamours than they could change appearance.

Sadly she wasn't going to be able to give them tree hopping or the teleporting abilities. And they weren't wizards so they can't really use lots of fancy abilities. But the basics will still work with the right gear.

It wasn't even that hard. After all she had seen Harry do it enough times and had talked with the design teams occasionally. She planned on each Yuki-onna having four weapons. The first two are sprayers, liquid nitrogen and tear gas. The nitrogen creates ice for them to use and the tear gas serves as a non-lethal distraction. The last two weapons are both shotguns, one using using SCMTR rounds and the other a sabot dart round. Which will be their version of shurikens and kunai!

As Luna had already planned their armor was going to be loaded with preset glamours, notice-me-nots and a small silencing charm that can be turned on or off. The armor was going to be featureless and form-fitting so the glamours covered it. In fact she planned the glamours to be rotating and constantly on. That way she can have them using fancy ninja robes without them getting in the way!

And once there were enough of them she was going to create the Hidden Snow Village. It'll be like the Mist Village, but much much better. Hopefully Harry hurries up and figures out how to create goblin silver so she can give them all fancy swords.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore smiled in triumph as the Goblet of Fire flared. It had taken surprisingly little work to arrange this. The minister and department head of international relations had both been working on bringing back the Triwizard Tournament for months.

He hadn't even done much. A mild compulsion charm on a seventh year student was enough to submit Harry Potter's name. And that was it. After all it wasn't like one who was Voldemort's equal could fail to be chosen now could it?

Dumbledore did his best to project a stoic image as the third slip of paper was ejected even as he wanted to dance in triumph at his success. "Harry Potter."

His fake pause of shock extended as everyone seemed to start speaking at once. Well this won't do. People really should know to turn to me for answers. A cannon blast drew their attention back to where it belonged. Now to use his prepared speech.

A burst of light and the crackle of flames behind him threw off his plans. A fourth name? Dumbledore was so surprised he barely managed to catch the slip of paper. He whispered the name with a mouth gone dry. "Harry... Potter."

How? What was going on? An epiphany had Dumbledore glaring across the room. As expected whoever was behind this wasn't stupid enough to openly gloat. There was no way Sirius was behind this, which meant someone new was interfering.

He would find them. And this time there wouldn't be an accidental imprisonments. It was clear he was just too nice. Sparing Sirius's life had led to all the current problems. No, as much as he might regret it, more permanent accidents will have to be arranged.


	11. Tournament

Chapter 11 Tournament

Somehow I wasn't terribly surprised by the headlines on the newspaper I was reading. Something always goes wrong for Harry Potter on Halloween. Or at least attempts too. It's one of the reasons I had kept up my subscription to the Daily Prophet, getting my issues through a goblin post box.

 **Harry Potter selected as Triwizard Champion! Twice!**

Twice though. That was different. I can only assume it was Dumbledore's fault. No doubt to bring me back to face my 'destiny'. Wanker.

Seeing the comment by Mad-eye Moody reminded me that I never did take care of him. It was a bit annoying that destroying the diadem came too late to finish off Voldemort. If Crouch Jr was there, and the map confirmed it, then likely Voldemort was already inside a baby. Which means Nagini is likely already a horcrux.

Now how to play this?

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

"You aren't going!" Ah poor godfather. Sirius is many things, but calm and logical is not one of them.

"He has to go." At Sirius's betrayed look, Hermione quietly tears into him verbally. Explaining the nature of magical contracts and just how bad it it to break one. Something Sirius should already know.

I tune them out. I already know how it'll go. Sirius will grumble, but will eventually go along. Hermione will probably freak out later on worrying and planning. I'll need to distract her tonight. At least if our daughter doesn't.

Lily Potter was thankfully a very well behaved baby. She hardly ever fussed. Not that she needed too with four parents and an army of house-elves. Thankfully she was asleep right now.

I take the time to see how the others are reacting. As I half expected Luna was barely paying attention. Since I didn't seem worried she probably trusted me to handle it. That or she already had a contingency plan ready for something like this. It was hard to tell.

While Hermione liked organizing, and Ginny training, it was Luna who threw herself into planning for all kinds of scenarios. We had a lot of fun planning for even the most crazy disasters. Many of them were silly, but it was fun. And I felt I owed it to my past life as a geek to have an amazing zombie survival plan.

Not that the others weren't helpful. Hermione, not only kept track of my resources, but had gathered and organized what was likely the private library in the world. Ginny had extended her love of combat into showing others how to be more effective and was in charge of the trainers.

And of course Luna didn't just help me plan. She had completely mastered the mind arts and regularly captured criminals to convert them into useful servants. She had even replaced all the trainers over time. Convincing me to let them go missing a year or two but a million dollars richer.

Hearing a distinct lack of voices I look over to see Hermione smirking at a very grumpy looking Sirius. I wasn't even sure why he had been arguing. Not only was there a magical contract, but it wasn't like I wasn't well defended.

Sure none of the armies were ready, all of them needing more time, I still had some defenses ready. My armor was mostly finished, as were dozens of its built in weapons. And each of my girls had at least the started on their own set. And while I was going to eventually replace the trolls with the hybrid race we were simply calling great trolls, I still had a few dozen of them.

Also all of the house-elves were now wearing the armored uniforms and carrying guns. Well the male half. The females instead wore basilisk hide swing dresses. Although they were still armed the same. Meaning I have a small army of very effective skirmishers.

And a few months ago my first brood of blood-bound basilisks had been hatched.

Not to mention ourselves. Five years of training had us all reaching adulthood. Constantly pushing ourselves had us all at NEWT level in just about every subject. And thanks to portraits and other even less honest means we all were at mastery level in at least one subject.

Include our physical capabilities and armor and we were likely to be able to fight even Dumbledore. Not that I intend to let them. Far better to dispose of him with a convenient scapegoat. And what do you know, there just so happens to be one already there. Maybe I should thank Voldemort for that, before killing him.

Probably not. No villain ever benefited from gloating. And I somehow doubt I count as a hero anymore.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

We took our time returning. The house-elves had managed to confirm the first task was still dragons. And just like in the movie, the dragon's are more wyverns than traditional dragons. I also have them steal the official rulebook. I want to make sure none of my plans trigger the contract accidentally.

The rules are remarkably simple. Show up at each task. Try. Don't kill fellow competitors. It's a very short list.

Everything else is tradition or just tacked on by decrees later on. Nothing I care about.

Privileges on the other hand. Those are plenty. Excused from classes and grades. In fact excused from most rules and even laws. Free room and board. A very generous self defense clause.

This might actually be fun.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore did his best not to flinch as yet another howler exploded as soon as it entered the Great Hall. Damn Rita for explaining how to get around the automatic sorting charms.

Ever since Harry Potter's name had come out of the Goblet everything had gone wrong. He had thought everyone would be happy Harry was returning to Hogwarts. Rita had almost immediately written an article, the first in almost a year, detailing how Dumbledore had likely just killed the boy-who-lived.

It had even been enough to make him worry. At least until he remembered the prophecy. There was no way fate would allow Harry Potter to miss his destiny so easily.

Unfortunately no one else had that assurance and for some reason weren't willing to accept his word on the matter. His attempts to reassure everyone were all met with skepticism and anger. Had his start really fallen so far?

Still he had faith that everything would work out. Eventually everyone would see as well and once again thank him for his guidance and willingness to act.

Dumbledore did admit he was feeling fairly anxious though. There was only two weeks until the first task and Harry Potter had yet to so much as be spotted.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The last thing we did before ending our cruise was get married. Hermione had demanded it and the other girls supported her. Ironically if anyone had seen an itinerary it would have looked like three weddings instead of one. Which was because each of my girls was getting a different last name.

I had long since changed my name to Hadrian Peverell. While Harry Potter is famous, it just didn't sound as cool to me. Hermione didn't mind and so was taking that name. However, Ginny had always dreamed of being Mrs Potter, so that's the name she was taking.

I also couldn't resist convincing Luna to use another name as well. Since Sirius had named me his heir I was allowed to add Black to my official name. And I found it hilarious to think of Luna as my 'black moon'. Not to mention it sort of fit the naming convention.

Not that we were going to announce the fact that we were married. The girls just wanted to legitimize their claim on me. Which was fine.

I have no idea why, but before we arrived they told me that even if they were hiding the fact we were married I still wasn't allowed to sleep with other girls. I don't even know where that came from! Sure, we had drifted apart a bit over the last few years, but it was more a case of differing hobbies rather than actual disinterest.

I had been a bit worried when I secretly burned the contracts, but I genuinely liked them. Starting a family while they were under a magical influence could warp any children the same way Tim Riddle was. While Rowling had did state that, I'm not sure if the movieverse I'm in has that same rule.

I wasn't prepared to take that chance. Aside from the emotional aspect, fighting someone who you trained and knows many of your secrets sounds needlessly risky. And my girls might not recover from something like that.

I'd seen the mothers of serial killers on TV before. Broken and delusional, babbling their babies' innocence. I never wanted that to be one my wives.

Destroying the contracts did lead to some changes in personality, but they were gradual and minor enough I only really noticed because I was looking for them. Hermione had the most drastic change. She seemed to have cooled down, wanting sex less often. Which was honestly a good thing and may have played a small part in my decision.

Three girls and their natural competitiveness meant I sometimes felt like I was in a constant orgy. Which really messed with my productivity. Not that I ever told them that. I wasn't crazy.

Luna is actually a much bigger pervert than I am. That or she just believes I'm a raging pervert and is trying to be the most considerate girlfriend ever. The yuki-onna, desperately attempting to rebuild their numbers, was just the latest example.

First she had picked up some Veela who were being sold as slaves, which may have been my fault. I had been thinking out loud when I mentioned a crossbreeding a veela. It was more an idle thought, brought about by the fact that any magic seems to dilute the natural veela powers, than an actual plan. However the next day Luna had shown up with three of them.

It was also when Luna had started experimenting with mind magics. After all she could hardly make the sex slaves more broken. Well she could, but she did all the really risky testing on the actual slavers and criminals she captured with the help of the house-elves.

Ironically I never did get to run those crossbreeding experiments. Having successfully fixed them Luna wasn't willing to risk their lives trying to give birth to experiments. At least the muggles I have are happy with them. I'm not really sure what I'll do with a veela population right now, but it's not like I lack room.

Then there were a slew of other creatures. Most of which worked out... badly. It seems many sexually predatory species are like praying mantises. Worse they seem to get upset if you don't die afterwards. Much like the erlkings Luna had attempted to reprogram into babysitters, I ended up disposing of all of them.

Thankfully it wasn't very common, which is likely why I hadn't spotted the pattern until now. In many areas of the world wizardkind had managed to completely wipe out any species that preys on them. Only the ones that adapted or that a use was found for still existed.

And very few of those species were useful to me. After all I didn't want species that can merely manage to survive. I wanted things that can contribute. To make my future pocket empire thrive.

In fact the only previous success was a species from India. Currael were yet another beautiful female predatory creature. Given how common they are, I'm pretty sure they aren't natural. And likely the work of horny wizards lacking any common sense.

Currael have bronze skin, red lips and eyes along with shiny black hair. They're natural shapeshifters, but not quite as versatile as a metamorphmagus. And their gaze acts like a natural compulsion charm, allowing them to convince people to do things. Usually to go off and let them suck the life out of them. Quite literally.

They also had an alternative form. Much like a werewolf it was large, bestial and magic resistant. It wasn't a curse, more like an animagus form since they could use it at will. It did tend to exhaust them if overused.

They were also Luna's first successful racial reprogramming. Although I'm not really sure how hard that was for her. As my girls had told me more than once my cum was amazing. Due to the Philosopher's Stone, drinking it gives even muggles a boost to energy and health. All my girls vastly preferred it to coffee for waking up in the mornings. It was definitely my favorite way part of waking up.

The currael, who feed off both cum and magic, were addicted from the very first taste. My enhancements kept them from going along with their first plan. Which seemed to be drag me off and drink until they pass out.

Once I proved I was stronger enough to resist they became almost desperate. Acting like the worst drug addicts. They likely would have let Luna vivisect them for another taste. With that kind of leverage, Luna had one massive carrot and stick.

Overall I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with them. Like Veela, they're distinctive in appearance. Their abilities would make them natural infiltrators, assassins and saboteurs. None of which I currently need. At least in Britain they shouldn't be recognized.

Which is good since one of them is going to pose as Sirius's girlfriend in order to accompany us. I also have a pair of house-elves constantly monitoring each of us. I wasn't really anticipating any danger so soon, but I wanted at least some backup at Hogwarts.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

On the day of the Weighing of the Wands ceremony I portkey over to Hogsmeade. I arrive early and make my way over under my invisibility cloak. I wanted to minimize my interactions as long as possible.

I had thought long and hard on the matter, but in the end I really didn't want to return to Hogwarts. Not to mention deal with all the questions. Looks can be easily explained away as natural. The age difference not so much.

Dealing Hermione's and Lunas family will be simple. Ignore or confund the first and the second might not even notice. And as a last resort I can let him study the Invisibility Cloak. It was Ginny's family that will be a pain. And as aggressive as Ginny was now, she was all too likely to cause an incident.

I have a plan though. Well the girls did. They wanted me to just tell the truth. Not everything of course, but enough to be plausible. Older? Black market time turners. Prettier? Time, good genetics, and lots of physical training. Refuge in audacity.

Sirius, the traitor, loved it. They finally convinced me, though that meant none of us could wear our armor or bring any defenders. Which might even have been part of the girls plan. None of them liked my armor.

I don't even know why. It's not like they were wearing it. What little they had already designed and ordered was much much lighter than mine. Barely provides any protection. A tank shell would rip right through it.

I take off my cloak only once inside the classroom. Sneaking through the school wasn't hard. Not with the Marauder's Map and an invisibility cloak. Although it was likely the Weasley twins would soon find me with there copy.

I was feeling pretty secure right then. I had forgotten Rita Skeeter was the reporter chosen to cover this event. When I drew close though I could feel the imperius curse on her, still going strong even after a year. The Elder Wand really is amazing.

The room wasn't anything special, an old classroom crudely converted into a studio. I ignore everyone to hand over my wand to Ollivander. While he looks it over I give a friendly nod to Fleur and extend a legilimency probe to Skeeter.

Before I can get my wand back there's a burst of fire as Dumbledore's phoenix drops him off. Damn. Almost got away too. Dumbledore stared for a moment before lunging forward, gripping my shoulders and pinning me against a desk. "Harry? What have you done to yourself?!"

For a second I froze. The hell was Dumbledore doing? Then I remember this was where the series starts getting darker and they changed actors. Dumbledore doesn't look any different though.

Whatever. Since I can't afford to kill him and I really don't feel like talking to him I go with option three and knee him between his legs. I was angry and put more force into it than I should have. There was a muffled but very recognizable crunch as my knee shattered his pelvis.

Dumbledore dropped instantly, passed out from sheer agony. His phoenix, as if sensing his distress, flames in and takes him away. Seeing everyone staring I shrug. "I don't like being grabbed."

Everyone chuckles as Rita orders pictures taken. I just sigh. I really don't have a reason to hide now. Looks like I'm taking pictures. At least I don't need to secretly meet up with Skeeter anymore. I can have the interview now.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore woke up restrained and in horrible pain. His entire lower body ached. He also didn't recognize where he was. "Excuse me?"

Ah. From the nurses uniform he realized he was likely at St Mungoes. Why though? "Pardon me ma'am. But may I ask where Madam Pomphrey is Ms Court?" It was always nice to see one of his students succeed in life.

"At Hogwarts of course." Where had that bitterness come from? Dumbledore cautiously extended a tendril of legilimency. It seems she still harbors some animosity for Professor Snape and him for hiring him.

Hardly a fitting Hufflepuff attitude, getting upset just because the teacher sets high standards. She should be thanking him instead. Clearly his method worked. She herself was proof of that. Perhaps he should have a word with the director. Later though. "I apologize. I mean, why am I not in the infirmary at Hogwarts?"

"While Madam Pomphrey is a perfectly fine mediwitch she is not a healer. She doesn't have the expertise to regrow organs."

Dumbledore felt dread steal over him at those words. He barely managed to croak out his next question. "What happened?"

Ms Court sniffed, just the way Severus used to when he wanted to change the subject. Clearly he was inspirational to her if she was picking up his habits. So distracted by the pleasant thought of his friend having secret admirers Dumbledore didn't even notice the newspaper until it landed on his chest.

 **An Interview with Harry Potter**

What followed was a long article written by Ms Skeeter detailing all the reasons why Harry Potter had left Britain. Dumbledore was listed as one of the biggest reasons. It went into far too much detail about his abusive childhood.

Can't Harry see that he was taking the wrong approach? Too much information will just make people pity him. He should have been stoic and modest. Maybe with a touch of triumph. That would have inspired them. Not enough to follow, but it would shape them and eventually with his support Harry could take up the mantle of Leader of the Light.

Dumbledore sighed. Clearly youth and exuberance steered Harry wrong. And reading on he noted how Ms Skeeter drew yet another conspiracy theory around the facts. He admits. The chain of events in the week following the loss of Harry's parents looked suspicious. But that was only if one didn't realize it was guided by fate. Of such random acts are destiny's path revealed.

It was clear now that Harry had fallen. Which meant it was up to him to redeem him. Stern lectures and punishments aren't going to work now that he was dark. He would have to lured back to the light.

As if in response to his idea Fawkes swooped into his room at that moment. And perhaps he did. After all what else would a creature of light desire?

And if he was successful with Harry, even with the horcrux influencing him, maybe he can finally do the same with Tom. After all, once Harry martyr's himself, love for their hero will ensure the light continues fighting. At that point even Tom won't be able to deny the truth that continued fighting will only hurt both sides.

Lulled by phoenix song Dumbledore fell asleep where he dreamed of working together with Tom to rebuild a perfect society.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

While impulsive, striking Dumbledore may well have been one of the best things for me. Without him there me and my girls could openly walk through Hogwarts. We formed our own group, much like Beauxbaxton and Durmstrang, with Sirius as our chaperon. A thought that made all of us laugh.

I was happy to find out the portraits had finally finished with their notes. I planned on having them bound into a series of books and use them as Christmas gifts. Ravenclaw for Hermione, Hufflepuff for Luna and Gryffindor for Ginny. Just a single volume, more of a symbolic gesture really, since a copy of all the books will be added to the library.

Hermione had really done an amazing job with the library. Taking my work with the gemino charm the original books are never removed from their shelves. Instead the shelves are much deeper than they look and a copy continuously sits in front of the original. If the copy is removed another is made.

Copies last for around a day. Except our personal study tables are enchanted to maintain copies indefinitely. There were also stations where you can perform searches using the wide variety of indexing spells Hermione created.

I was already planning on copying the set up when I started creating public libraries in my empire. The features were far too useful not to do so.

And without the portraits using the Room of Requirement, we were free to do so. Thanks to our successful recreation of the Room the girls were all familiar with how it functions and were happy to stay there. And keeping a house-elf stationed there maintained our control. I wonder how long it'll take before someone else discovers the Room once we leave?

For the most part the girls plan worked perfectly. Our excuse of buying time turners in France was accepted since we could actually produce them. The only drawback was that the Unspeakables confiscated them. Well the three they knew about.

Not that I minded. The first team I kidnapped. The knowledge I eventually planned on stealing from them was well worth the loss of three time turners. After all I stole over twenty of them.

I had missed an opportunity with Rookwood. I was not going to pass up another chance at learning the secrets of the Unspeakables. It wasn't even hard.

House-elves really are underestimated by everyone. Armed with tranq carbines filled with Draught of Living Death they can easily knock anyone out. I made a great show of being sorry my house-elves had been overzealous in defending me and showed them the clearly muggle guns.

Like any group the Unspeakables had idiots in their ranks. One of them tried threatening me. Despite me clearly explaining how my house-elves are armed and very willing to kill anyone who does so. I considered his death a suicide. The rest of them weren't happy, but backed off when they saw his bullet riddled body.

The students actually caused us the most problems. The girls decision to hide our marriage meant they had boys following them in droves. Not that I can blame them. Who doesn't like confident, gorgeous young women? I even heard people wondering if they had veela blood.

Idiots. Only Luna was blond and even her hair was just blonde and not the distinctive gold of a veela.

Wizarding society isn't just stupid though. It's also very corrupt. Rape is a very subjective term when love potions, compulsions and other mind magics are available. And even if they didn't realize it, Dumbledore protected them. Brushing everything off as youthful shenanigans.

But he wasn't at Hogwarts anymore. He was in the hospital regrowing his genitals, bladder, intestines, liver, a kidney and both hips. Without him there to protect them, every would be rapist swiftly found themselves castrated. Permanently.

McGonagall tried, but it was soon clear she really was overly reliant on Dumbledore to accomplish anything. She was essentially toothless. None of us were willing to use house points and detentions to stop rapists.

Predictably there was a huge outcry when purebloods started being found castrated. Except there wasn't any proof. Sure they had last been spotted following one or more of my girls. And maybe were overheard boasting about taking them too. But that wasn't enough. And we challenged anyone who said otherwise to honor duels.

It helped that the first family that publicly accused us all died in a tragic house fire while we publicly ate lunch in the Great Hall. In a way, it was like the Death Eaters. Everyone knew who had done it, but lack of evidence and fear kept us safe. Wizarding Britain really is made of sheep.

Hermione barely left Yggdrasil after that. Not that she had spent much time outside of the nested world before. After all she could hardly bring her daughter with her is she was hiding her marriage and she would never let anyone treat Lily as a bastard.

Luna, without any real fond memories of Hogwarts that didn't involve me, stayed with Hermione usually. About the only reason she left was to visit the Forbidden Forest. Unicorns were rapidly becoming extinct and the herd there was one of the last.

Ginny on the other hand ended up spending even more time at Hogwarts afterwards. As if she was daring anyone to try anything. Not that she had anything to worry about. I had doubled the house-elf guard after the first attempt. And with Hermione and Luna in Yggdrasil, Ginny often had a full dozen guards.

Not that our time at Hogwarts was unpleasant for the most part. Wandering the school grounds was nostalgic and we often took the time to talk with the professors. They all had decades of experience and it always nice to be able to talk to another expert.

The grounds themselves were very useful. When we left I had only been able to gather the species that could survive on their own. With fully established habitats I can support a much wider variety now.

Luna convinced the entire unicorn herd to relocate to one of my habitats, somehow still considered pure enough to approach them. I can't really say I was too surprised. Luna has always seemed to innocent, almost naive in many ways. Even when having sex or experimenting on criminals she retained a child-like wonder and joy at life.

I can see it. Thanks to Hagrid and Dumbledore aracumantula flourished in the forest. As aggressive as they were the unicorns were constantly in danger. Not to mention my first year when Voldemort was hunting them.

Hemmed in as they were, they leaped at the chance to live inside a forest ten times in size as the Forbidden Forest.

Meanwhile I gathered a number of thestrals to join us. I'm not sure if I'm actually the Master of Death or even if the title means anything, but the thestrals seem to find me fascinating. It was easy to convince several of them to join the unicorns.

I even captured a number of aracumantula, although I put them inside a separate habitat. If I was lucky Luna will be able to reprogram them. If not, well they were still intelligent enough to enslave. Somehow I doubt the girls will care.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

It had been a very uncomfortable past few weeks. While there wasn't any dark magic involved in his injuries, something which gave Dumbledore hope, it was still extensive. Worse the shattered fragments from his hips had shredded many of his organs.

If it was a limb they could have just cut it off and regrown it. Instead of a single night regrowing a few bones or a few days growing a new limb, healers had to very slowly and carefully vanish each separate fragment of bone. Then they had to stitch the wounds back together.

The situation was untenable! It had been weeks since Harry had reappeared and he had yet to speak with him. And his antics!

Castrating wizards! Some of them even heirs of their families. Doesn't Harry care at all about the Wizarding World? How can they rebuild if he ended too many family lines?

Besides punishing them so harshly will only breed resentment. It would have been far better to force them to marry anyone they touched inappropriately. The family line continues that way and everyone else learns a valuable lesson on the value of patience.

Besides there has to be some attraction there if he was forcing her. And he had seen the pictures. The ladies accompanying Harry, it was hardly the lads' fault they developed such powerful crushes. And in time they'll learn to love each other. The fact that it would isolate Harry and make him easier to influence would also be useful.

Predictably and appropriately the families were outraged. Harry, showing his darker tendencies, didn't apologize. Instead he challenged everyone who protested to honor duels. Dumbledore wasn't sure why, but Minerva didn't stop them.

Reading as wizard after wizard was publicly humiliated was disheartening. Harry wasn't killing them, but he was making far too many enemies. With such bitter feelings towards him, he'd face an uphill battle getting any of them to ever cooperate with him.

At least once he becomes a martyr the families should be able to calm down. If Harry didn't stop now, he was all too likely to die without having been redeemed. It's a sad day indeed when the chance for redemption is lost.

Dumbledore was feeling so happy to be soon leaving that he missed the looks he was getting. It wasn't until a pair of aurors showed up that he noticed something was wrong. In the background he could what sounded like a full blown riot. Before he could question them one of them tossed a small badge at him that he recognized as an auror portkey just before it activated.

The cell it deposited him in was not comfortable. And it was hours before anyone showed up and then it was single auror bringing him breakfast. He couldn't pass up the chance to learn what was going on however. "My good sir? May I inquire as to what has happened?"

The auror had an odd look on his face, like he smelled something foul. Then he proceeded to spit in the food before passing it over. The audacity! "I demand to know why I am illegally being detained!"

In response the auror dropped a paper on the tray and passed it over as well. Dumbledore frowned, but when the auror left picked it up. Hopefully the newspaper will provide an answer.

 **Dumbledore's Darkness!**

Ah. There was the picture he had expected Ms Skeeter to use earlier. My goodness, Harry had hit him quite forcefully. And only a physical blow? Enhancement rituals was the route Tom had gone down. He probably shouldn't have been surprised.

But really Darkness? That was preposterous. After all he was the Leader of the Light. He could hardly be that if he was actually dark. Dumbledore almost tossed aside the newpaper. Only morbid curiosity had him continue.

The article that followed was a disaster.

Ms Skeeter wrote a horrifically compelling story. It told of a sexual deviant and worse a predator. Who had found a young lad named Gellert. After violating him so great was his trauma that Gellert had fled to the continent and immersed himself in dark magic in order to become powerful enough to obtain revenge.

Grindelwalds entire war was portrayed as an overblown lover's spat between two monsters. Ms Skeeter had even included how Dumbledore had imprisoned Gellert all alone and periodically visited him.

Tom Riddle was then labeled as his next victim. A promising young student, likewise victimized by his transfiguration professor. A repeat of the tragedy of Gellert on a much smaller scale.

And then she listed Harry Potter as his next target. How Dumbledore had continued to get Harry alone in his office. How Harry had fled the country. And how desperately Dumbledore had been to get him back.

Everything true enough to be remembered or looked up I records. But all of it perverted to cast Dumbledore in the worst light possible. She had even managed to gain quotes from Mrs Bagshot, who she pointed out wrote their history textbook. He had thought he had successfully marginalized her years ago. He really should have switched history textbooks. It just seemed like too much trouble since that would have required getting rid of Cuthbert.

The article ended with a short article in the form of a dramatic plee to the public.

 **Don't let Harry be next!**

The article begged them to take action. To save the boy who had saved them. To keep Dumbledore from creating another dark lord.

It was a masterful piece of prose. He really should have done something about Ms Skeeter before now. He had never believed she could have posed a threat before. He supposes the books she wrote earlier should have been a clue. Hubris had been his failing. Not even her animagus secret would help him now.

Dumbledore felt like weeping. He could see it now. His greatest fear come true. Without his guidance Harry would continue down his path. And when Voldemort rose again the world would be caught between two dark lords. No matter who won, the world would lose.

What he couldn't see was a way of stopping it. With the public turned against him he was unlikely to be able to reign Harry in. They wouldn't forgive him if he broke a law and thus show the benefit of compassion, they'd ignore it. Even any dark or illegal magic would now be blindly dismissed now by a public who sympathized with Harry.


	12. Champion

Chapter 12 Champion

Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic and the most powerful politician in Wizarding Britain, was feeling decidedly helpless at the moment.

He had always been one to go with the flow. When the war ended the people were tired. They didn't want a warmonger. Especially once Crouch showed he couldn't even take care of his own family. And with Dumbledore supporting him, he had easily won.

Malfoy had also been of immense help. His gold able to settle many of the problems in his administration. So what if he had to dismiss court charges against him and some of his friends? They should never have been raised against them in the first place.

After all they were the most influencial members of society. In many ways they were the government. The idea that they would secrets dress up and run around like lunatics to work against the very government they were a part of was... ridiculous.

No one wanted to fight anymore. Everyone wanted to forget the horrors. So he gave them what they wanted. Life goes on and everyone was happy. And they had been blessed with over a decade of peace.

Then a few years ago Lucius was killed and the entire Malfoy family with him. Cornelius didn't like to admit it, but he had grown used to have him around. Used to having the Malfoys cover any additional expenses the ministry had. After all a machine doesn't run without greasing the wheels.

Without Lucius he had turned to Dumbledore. He didn't provide any gold, but he was always ready with a polite, respectful suggestion. And his advice was often better since it often helped him in the polls.

But this article.

It was clear Dumbledore was finished unless he could do something. The people were too scared and too angry to just forget about the issue. Truthfully he was too. And that was the real problem.

He had tried to talk to Dumbledore. Gone down to the DMLE cells and demanded the truth. He wanted some reassurance that it was all more of Rita's lies.

That Dumbledore wasn't evil.

He spoke to Dumbledore. And Dumbledore had lied to him. Dumbledore was very good. He deflected, used half-truths, and misleading statements. But Cornelius had been a minister for over a decade now and he could easily see the same tactics he himself used.

The worst part was the end. He had asked one last time for advice. Still hoping somewhere. And Dumbledore gave his kind, twinkling smile and lied again.

Cornelius had wanted to scream. Yell at Dumbledore. Ask him how he could betray him. He didn't though. There was no point.

It was clear now. Dumbledore was a monster. So out of touch with the people that he can't even relate to them.

How else could he tell him to 'ignore the public'?

Did he have any idea what that would do to his career? Of course not. It was obvious he didn't care. That he had never cared.

Cornelius was suddenly certain that was why Dumbledore had never run for minister. Dumbledore knew he would never be able to relate to the people. Why look how long he had ignored complaints about his potions professor.

Who was an intelligent student. And only escaped Azkaban on Dumbledore's word.

Cornelius felt sick.

Had Dumbledore taken the end of the war as an opportunity to get himself a new toy while waiting for Harry to grow up enough? Was that why Mr Black had gone to Azkaban? He refused Dumbledore's offer. Was this why Lucius had always said not to trust Dumbledore?

Well no more. It was time to properly investigate everything. Dumbledore had his fingers in a lot of pies. Amelia was going to need more funds if she was to investigate everything.

Including Mr Snape. After all there had to be a reason Diagon Alley had thrown a party upon his death. And while he couldn't blame Lucius for wanting to protect his son's godfather, he was dead now. It was time to find out the truth.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I'm not sure why I expected moving so successfully against Dumbledore would solve most of my problems. Clearly I was giving him far too much credit. No. Dumbledore is just a symptom, not the cause.

In my first life there had been a court case where someone had gotten off by reason of Affluenza, a sort of insanity coming from never having been disciplined before. In many ways the entire pureblood society seemed to operate on this principle.

Sure they recognized crimes. But only against each other. Everyone else really was seen as lesser beings. Not even Victorian, but positively medieval in outlook. So I really should have expected what happened.

"Sir. There has been an incident." Getting the house-elves to improve their speech had been a pain at the time, but completely worth it. Every time I had heard their broken, uneducated speech patterns before I wanted to kill someone. While the others didn't care, Hermione had understood completely.

I listen to the house-elves report in satisfaction. I had been waiting for something exactly like this. It sure took them long enough.

Maybe I shouldn't have been quite so humiliating with the retaliatory pranks? Sticking them upside down on the doors of the Great Hall without clothes while forcing themselves to defecate on themselves didn't seem that bad. Not when they had been acting pushy against one of my girls.

Sure my girls could handle themselves and did, easily disarming anyone who was too pushy. But there were still too many who remembered them as they were. Still thought of them as the shy, isolated girls they used to be and only thinking the outside changed. Idiots.

So I pranked them. In the way that ruined their social standing. And I made sure to grin in savage triumph every time so it was obvious it was me. Not that I confirmed it. And when asked I denied it in a tone that made it clear I didn't care if they believed me.

It's not like the teachers can do anything about it. I'm a guest. As are my girls. And while Dumbledore no doubt would have tried to pull something off, McGonagall only cared about the school. And she didn't like bullies.

This time though was different. This time someone had used more than subtle pressuring and intimidation. Someone had been blatant. I don't really care why.

Maybe they figured to conceal their actions with an obliviate later. Maybe they were used to Dumbledore dismissing everything as youthful hijinks. I didn't care.

I gave out the new orders and then made my way to the Great Hall to watch the fireworks. Ginny soon joined me and gave me a look, no doubt curious to see what I was up to. I just winked. Which made her pout and me laugh.

When the show started all I could think was that Kreacher probably ended up in charge. Somehow I can see him cutting off each of the students limbs, castrating them and then their eyes. Which was actually a tad farther than I intended.

Five students is more than I expected. And two of them girls too. I'm not actually surprised they all wore Slytherin green. Spoiled ponces.

Ginny, blood thirsty wench that she is now, loved it. She's almost bouncing in her seat. "Are they?"

I nod. I guess all the blood does make it hard to identify them. "For me?"

I nod again. As if I'd pull her away from beating up her would-be rapists without something special planned. After all she's mine. And I'm terribly possessive.

Then she's just sqeeing and hugging me tight. Glad she likes her present. Whoever said being a good boyfriend, well husband, is hard?

"Mr Potter!" Huh. McGonagall sounds upset. I give her an unimpressed raised eyebrow. It's not like I'm a student here. Besides I have diplomatic immunity or something close to it. From a country literally named Bumfuck Nowhere because Sirius is a giant kid. And he finds my sarcastic comments way too funny.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Sitting behind her desk, Amelia Bones, director of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, wanted to bang her head against her desk. She didn't. Instead she held herself perfectly still in case any sudden movements would cause distract Minister Fudge from giving her the budget increase he was proposing.

Of course it wasn't free of strings. No. The idiot wanted Dumbledore of all people investigated.

Sure Dumbledore did his share of shady actions. Protecting Mr Snape one of them. But if anything his problem was from refusing to punish guilty parties. And everyone knew Rita Skeeter was nothing more than a vicious rumor monger.

Still, he promised her an enormous budget increase in return. So what if she had to investigate dumbledore at the same time? It can be used as a training exercise for the new hires. And without Malfoy whispering in his ears she might even be able to keep her budget.

Time to see how serious he is. "The budget isn't the only problem. We also have a lack of applicants. Snape has ruined an entire generation of potential healers and aurors. What we really need is a remedial potion course." Let's see how he handles that.

Fudge didn't even blink. He agreed with all of her suggestions. In fact he even came up with few himself.

So he really was serious.

Amelia shrugged and agreed. In the end a single pointless investigation was a small price for all the concessions she had wrung from him. And since he hadn't limited her mandate, maybe she can even nail some of the scum who had wiggled out Azkaban last time.

Two weeks later she was no longer certain she had gotten the better part of the bargain. As unbelievable as it seemed, Ms Skeeter hadn't lied in her article. Any and all evidence they found so far just seemed to confirm her insane article.

Dumbledore swore Rita lied. Yet he also refused to tell her what the truth was. Instead he said the truth should be treated with great caution, by which he meant only he could know it. It was obvious he was hiding something.

Worse the investigation may have begun too late.

There was a disturbing trend in the last few years. Muggleborn being secretly hired and only now reappearing in large numbers. All of them taking the ministry NEWT tests in potions and a few other fields and passing.

She had a good number of them among her recruits in fact. They were all being fast tracked to full aurors. The DMLE wasn't the only place to get a batch of new recruits. St Mungoes, a few apothecaries and other places had as well.

All of them muggleborn. All of them with previously failing grades and recently going to the ministry and passing easily. And every single one of them under some kind of long term contract.

It was the last that bothered her. The contract wasn't a secret, but it's implications were disturbing. Every single one of them owed Harry Potter five years of service. Except there was really only one reason someone would need a large number of aurors, healers and potioneers.

War.

Harry Potter had already begun building his army. And because he had recruited from the group everyone overlooked nobody had noticed until now. She was going to have to apologize to Cornelius, if only for her own sake.

Talking to some of the new recruits, who had gone through what was informally called Potter Academy, painted a bleak image. If it came to a war it was likely they would all defect. They didn't have a reason not too.

Official interviews were even more disturbing. Many seemed almost fanatical in support of Mr Potter when questioned. And none of them seemed to doubt Ms Skeeters article.

Both the ministry and Dumbledore were viewed as enemies. The ministry because of it's bigoted laws and policies and Dumbledore for betraying them so completely. Their history made her sick.

Rampant bullying from fellow students and even a staff member. How Dumbledore had kept knowledge of wizarding traditions and customs from them so they stood out more. How he had lied about their future and how Hogwarts had ruined it.

Until Harry Potter put out the call. He took them all in and arranged teachers and living arrangements. Gave them the tools to succeed. And the recent moves by Potter made it worse. The newspapers screamed about pureblood rapists and how Potter was likely behind the castrations. And made it sound reasonable.

Many of her aurors, at least the new ones, seemed to think so. Only the pureblood ones seemed to disagree. Just another nail in the coffin. The situation just spiraling out of control.

Skeeter pointed out how the laws don't care as long as their victim isn't important enough. The honor duels almost gloated about how Harry Potter was killing everyone who supported the rapists. Twice riots had broken out in Diagon Alley against the remaining family members.

Todays article was the worst. It had pictures of a large crater that used to be the Carrows Manor. It dug sly insults at them and heavily implied some divine authority had come down in support of Harry Potter.

Amelia never thought it would come to this. Cornelius Fudge, potential savior of Wizarding Britain. Saving it from their own heroes no less.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I ended up attending the Yule Ball despite my preferences because my wives all wanted to go. Well Hermione and Ginny wanted to go. They wanted to show off for the students how had ignored them before. Luna just liked spending time with all of us.

I didn't actually mind. Dancing was a nice break from what was quickly feeling like a killing spree. There were a lot more pureblooded idiots in Britain than I realized. And all to many of them accepted my offer of an honor duel.

Not even declaring each duel was too the death stopped most of the challenges. And while I probably could win each match, it seemed like too much trouble. So I cheated.

I used a custom wand with a single undetectable expanded pocket. It contained a simple AK-47 loaded with tracer rounds. Everyone just saw incredibly fast streaks of light punching holes in my opponents. My duels tended to last a second. As many as ten if they conjured a barrier fast enough.

It gave me a reputation as the next Merlin among the purebloods. Some of the muggleborn doubtless recognized tracers, but none of them said anything. Why should they? And who would believe them?

The Carrows weren't the only family I wiped out, just the most well known. Wards are designed to stop magic. Physical objects are often only subject to damage, one reason why giants, with their high magic resistance, are so dangerous. A large muggle bomb was barely noticed and not slowed in the slightest.

In fact the only real problem came from the Weasleys. They had proven to be even worse than I anticipated. Ron was mostly just annoying, screaming insults out throughout the day despite his punishments. Thankfully most of us had all mastered sufficient wandless magic to easily drive him away. Hermione, bless her logical and rules oriented mind, still struggled to use more than a handful of charms wandlessly.

She kept up with me in arithmancy and runes though. An impressive feat when you consider the fact that I have three decades of experience on her which includes higher level math, several foreign and computer languages.

It was actually a chance remark on my part that both drove her so and made my own abilities acceptable. While some people are born more intelligent than others, IQ can be raised through hard work. Hermione had always considered herself a genius and with me as a benchmark she threw herself into her studies.

Percy just seemed to ignore us and Sirius kept the twins off our back. It was the parents that gave me a headache. Literally in the mother's case.

Molly Weasley had stormed up the castle demanding that her daughter return home and undo whatever indecent magic she was using as well as stop associating with me. None of which Ginny agreed with. Every single time they would get into screaming matches the entire school could hear.

Sadly Molly was still her mum and so she wouldn't let me kill her. I did stun her though whenever she attempted to grab me. When her husband tried to get me to apologize I swore to kill her next time if I did.

Not that I needed to stun her after that. Molly, outraged at my stunning of her, attacked my from behind the next time she spotted me. The house-elves shot her in the back and I snapped her wand. In revenge for what I had done Ron tried the same thing the next day.

I really think something is wrong with the Weasleys. Despite almost dying, both of them still insult me. At least they're doing a good job of driving Ginny away. I doubt she'll ever ask me to attend a family reunion after this.

in the midst of all that the first task barely rated notice. Sure it involved dragons, but I had already purchased and relocated a number of them in various habitats. Along with griffons, hippogriffs and several other flying creatures. After all I had plenty of room once the newest trunks started arriving. Only divided into three floors each allowed the inhabitants to fly up to a mile high.

Sometimes I wonder what the goblins think of me. After all I keep ordering insanely divided expanded trunks. Not to mention the thousands of portals I've purchased. Probably favorably if I have to guess. After all I'm bringing them plenty of extremely profitable business.

No the dragon was barely worth remembering. After all I didn't even fight it. I stepped through the door, summoned a rocket launcher and killed it. It took less than a minute to finish the first task.

Sirius thought it was hilarious. I could clearly hear him laughing In the shocked silence. The girls didn't really care, they were just happy I was safe.

No it was the second task I was curious about. I highly doubt they'll be able to capture any of my girls so who will they pick as my hostage?

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Griphook grumbled as he packaged yet another bundle of ritually expanded trunks. While his position was prestigious, recently Harry Potter had been upgraded to VIP status. Which meant all of his orders had to fulfilled as quickly as possible.

It was irritating since one of the main benefits of being an account manager was more time for personal projects. Such as honing his skills for the upcoming war.

Instead he had to run errands too important to entrust to a goblin of lower status. Orders for the master craftsman, delivering precious artifacts and transporting the massive payments.

It was clear now that Harry Potter doesn't have a Philosopher's Stone. Or if he did, it was much more powerful than Flamel's. Either way he was in possession of apparently unlimited wealth. And all of it in the forms the goblins value most. Gems and metal.

They had kept an ear open and not a single rumor had mentioned the trunks so the secret was safe for now. Whatever he was using them for, he was keeping them secret. No need to kill the golden goose yet.

Besides given his recent activities it was deemed too risky to try and have him assassinated. The accounts of the duels Harry Potter had been in revealed he had developed at least one new spell of incredible power. So fast you didn't have time to react and able to penetrate dragon hide with ease.

Goblin armor was good, but it still had openings. And anyone lesser would first have to enter Hogwarts.

No. Their course was clear. Assassination was just too risky without being able to kill the rest of his friends. The chance that his expanded trunks were known by at least one of the four humans close to him was too great. And if they also knew the source of his wealth, even worse.

The last thing they wanted was for another group to receive a massive influx of resources along with the idea for small self-contained areas.

The wizards had thought themselves so clever trapping them inside tiny areas. Now their own magics will provide them with all the space they needed.

No Harry Potter was to be kept happy until the goblins were fully prepared. Then, when the time was right, they wouldn't stage a simple rebellion, but a full war against the thieving wizards.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

It turns out since Ginny was the girl who spent the most time away from Yggdrasil she was the one they picked as my hostage. Except they never told her that.

Out of all of us, Ginny was by far the most violent. And they tried to stun. By shooting her in the back. Inside an office, which is a small crowded room.

Those poor poor idiots.

When I first got the alert late at night I instantly realized what was going on. And felt just a little bad that I had forgotten to warn the girls about the possible kidnapping attempt. At least I had posted guards.

Not that they were needed. I found Ginny within moments, the Map guiding me to her. She was absolutely furious and didn't even seem to notice she was still holding her spiked tetsubo. Inspired by Samehada, the heavily spike club was leaving a trail of blood behind her.

Ah, poor Mrs McGonagall. I'll miss her. She should have known better than to attack any of us from behind though.

The next morning the second task was postponed. It seems Ginny had killed all of the judges. Just why they were all waiting to ambush her didn't make any sense to me, but I didn't really care.

What was interesting was that Amelia Bones herself showed up. And that she made sure to tell us that Ginny wasn't in any trouble and Dumbledore was. It seemed off somehow. Like she was speaking in some kind of code.

We ended up having a broomstick race just to keep it simple. I'm not sure who decided, but didn't really care. It all seemed a bit silly to me, seeing the other two looking so serious. What concerned me far more was the fact that they had brought our families here.

Well not mine, unless you counted Sirius. And he was already here. But my girls' families.

Maybe it was the fact Ginny had been attacked, however mildly, but I decided I didn't care. I took off very slowly, keeping an eye on the arguments that had already broken out between two of the families. I don't know why the students were yelling at me. It's not like I ever cared about their opinions before.

Feeling a wave of tranquil calm wash over me I used my glasses to check all around me. Sure enough Moody had his wand out and a fading trail of magic extended from it towards me. It took everything I had to resist retaliating. To distract myself I checked on my girls.

Luna of course was happily talking to her father. Maybe I should invite him to Yggdrasil? Hermione was ignoring her parents. Given their positions it looks like she used body binds on them. And even from here I could hear the rapidly escalating argument among the Weasleys.

Then a fight broke out. Predictably it was started between Ginny and Molly. I'm pretty sure Molly threw the first blow. After all Ginny was strong enough to break anyone she struck.

I likely would have ignored it, except I saw Moody cast a spell. I'm pretty sure it wasn't anything lethal. After all he's in the middle of a crowd. I'm not certain though.

Time to stop holding back. Flicking out my 'duelling wand' I send a bullet to intercept his spell. We normally practice against targets that move up to fifty miles per hour. Against a spell traveling half that in a straight line? Easy.

My second bullet goes through his leg and the another through each of his arms. Then I swoop down and seize him by his hair. Dragging him to the middle of the pitch before dropping him from thirty feet up.

Everyone has frozen in shock when I shot a spell out of the air. Badly enough they didn't panic when I kept attacking. Now they watched as I landed and mind raped Moody.

In pain from the bullet and landing he didn't even realize I was using legilimency at first. Not that it mattered. He had a formidible will. He would have to in order to overcome the imperius curse, but I only needed to confirm a single thought. By the time he pushed back I was already leaving.

Huh. I guess I over reacted. He had only cast a stunner at them. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to care. And I confirmed Voldemort's location so it works out.

I stunned 'Moody' and turned him over to Madam Bones. The flask and a suggestion to check his trunk distracted her long enough for me to fly off. I swooped over at a wide-eyed Ginny and scooped her up. Adrenaline junkie that she is, she loved it. Cuddling my giggling wife I left the stadium.

The next day Madam Bones thanked me and agreed to end the tournament. Since they couldn't cancel it, they held a series of duels between us instead. I had intended to let them win, but both of them immediately forfeited. Was I really that scary? It wasn't like I had been killing and maiming...hmm.

With the Triwizard Tournament over and won by me, I was finally free to move against Voldemort!

Since I knew my girls would want to be there I portkeyed us all to Little Hangleton. Then I brought out my basilisks. Dendar, Salmissra and Kaa were the three basilisks I had blood bound to myself.

We had a very nice picnic in the graveyard while waiting for them to finish off Voldemort and Nagini. We had a toast when the pair of unnatural screams rang out.

And just like that, the prophecy was fulfilled.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The following month was interesting. Dumbledore was eventually let go but he had all his positions stripped away and was forbidden to ever enter Hogwarts again. The release of the Rita Skeeter's third book, The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore, may have played a part in that.

Madam Bones apologized they couldn't do more, but truthfully it was more than I expected. She also looked oddly happy when I mentioned that I intended to go back to my cruise. I would have thought the minister would have ordered her to keep the Boy-Who-Lived in Britain.

With no reason to rush, we stopped using the time turners. Although I had another reason. If I do get summoned, who knows how time travel with interact with the spell?

Seeing the small black hole open up next to me was oddly satisfying. I had confessed to being summoned by Dumbledore after he killed the original Harry Potter to my girls. And while they didn't say it, I always felt like they were humoring me. Especially when I started making preparations for being stranded in another dimension. Thankfully they had never given more than a token protest.

I wish I could take the time to gloat, but there wasn't time. I say the last words I'll ever utter in this dimension and likely in many more.

"Summoning Protocol!"


	13. Summons

Chapter 13 Summons

Landing this time was much less disorienting. Cushioning charms, contingent momentum cancelers and even some flight charms all worked together to set me gently down. At least they should have. Apparently being summoned was a lot like being portkeyed, but with fewer brakes. My armor barely cushioned me before I slammed into the floor.

At least I managed to land in a superhero pose.

I hear groans from all around me and swivel my view around. As I expected, I was inside the Great Hall at Hogwarts. There were also a number of wizards and witches I recognized, among them Dumbledore. What I did not expect was the nearly hundred goblins and wizards currently groaning on the ground.

They were almost all naked although all of them seemed to be wearing something, usually jewelry. It seems only goblin made items survived the summoning. It actually worked!

It had been extremely tricky, sneaking in preset enchantments into Gringotts on their employees. Fortunately wizards tend to be much less paranoid than goblins. Like my armor and Yggdrasil it was one of my many contingency plans.

After all if I was going to be stranded in a new dimension I wanted every possible resource possible. And the goblins had never taught wizards how to spellforge. I wasn't even sure if it was possible for wizards to learn it either. Which just meant I needed my own goblins.

Of course did seems it didn't work perfectly. After all they appeared alongside me rather than inside Yggdrasil. And they all seemed badly injured as well. I am so very glad I was completely covered in armor.

I quickly mutter "summoning protocol" a second time and watched as they all disappear. Hopefully this time inside Yggdrasil like they were supposed to the first time. And where my girls were hopefully safely located. Another mutter, "Escort Protocol", and I watch in satisfaction as icons for a score of friendly house-elves appear on my HUD.

I really don't get what the girls have against my armor. It's simply amazing! Advanced sensors, glamoured displays and a supersensory charm allowing me to take advantage of it all. Internal air, food and water supplies. Vacuum sealed. Regenerating, ablative, magic-proof armor. Over fifty different weapons.

What wasn't there to love?

Although I'm pretty certain I wasn't going to need it right now. It looks like most of the Hogwarts staff along with the Order of the Phoenix has summoned me. Maybe they're all members of the Order?

"Merlin?" It took me a moment to realize that they were asking a question instead of just cursing. I can't help but laugh. And even if they can't see it I grin as everyone gives a shudder.

My voice changer was one of the more entertaining additions to my mask. It replaces my voice with a chorus of amplified whispers from a half dozen people. Most of them were cartoons and movies, with two versions of the Joker, Hal, Dr Claw, Darth Vader and Cobra Commander. I even included the movie version of Voldemort. I didn't use just human voices either. Two of them were from aracumatula. Everyone who heard it agreed the result was very disturbing.

Time to screw with them and find out what's the current situation.

"I have been called such before." Usually in terms of being his replacement, but close enough. Hmm. I should probably make some kind of battle staff. It'd help with the whole persona.

No one seems to know how to take my statement. While several people seem relieved, several are now glaring at me suspiciously. Including Dumbledore.

"Do you mind clarifying that statement?" This Dumbledore seems a lot less spacey than the last one. "And where did all those people go?"

I counter with a question of my own. "What am I doing here?"

The question seems to settle everyone and Dumbledore launches into a brief history of his world. It was interesting to hear things from an outsider's perspective.

Harriet Potter.

Interesting. A girl-who-lived. But one with an identical life as the canon story Harry. Even to being called Harry. Her life up through her first year followed canon. After that changes started appearing.

Harry had befriended Ginny and turned in the diary. She never fought the basilisk. She also didn't win the Triwizard Tournament, Cedric did. He also died after Voldemort resurrected.

I wonder how different her life is? How different she is? Not from me of course, one of the reasons I changed name was because I didn't think of myself as Harry Potter. No. From canon Harry. It was an interesting thought.

As is the fact they want me to fight a war for them. Not lead though. Dumbledore still obviously sees himself as a general. He wanted a champion. Someone to lead the charge. A hero.

I am many things, but a typical Gryffindor is definitely not one of them. Not that I tell him that. No need to let him know just how far off his expectations are yet. He might be tempted to do something stupid.

It was when they were making their introductions that I realized this dimension had more differences than I realized.

Remus Lupin, Lycan. Lycan, not werewolf. Able to change without the full moon. And completely fictional.

Well I guess Harry Potter is also fictional. I guess I shouldn't be too surprised at another setting. Now the question is whether I'm in the full Underworld setting or it's just coincidence. And can I turn myself into a hybrid?

My questioning Mr Lupin catches everyone by surprise and seems to upset Dumbledore. While considering the implications I answer a few questions. I don't really have much to hide.

Letting them know I'm "Hadrian Peverell" upsets more than a few them. Did they really think I was Merlin? Idiots.

I think I'm going to have to proceed a lot more carefully than I planned. I also need more information.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

As Dumbledore watched the armored being walk out through the doors he waved off any protests. He had no intention of getting into a fight with Mr Peverell. Moody at least understood his reasoning. He wasn't sure if anyone else had noticed it.

The ground where the ritual had been set up was heavily damaged. Worse it was damaged with dark magic badly enough the maintenance spells couldn't repair it. And yet Mr Peverell was completely uninjured.

Peverell. Now that was a name he hadn't expected to hear. They had been extinct for some time, the last of them marrying into the Potters. They were humans though. And that voice. It was anything but human.

He also knew something. He seemed too comfortable with the situation. There was no hesitation, no disbelief.

The only time Mr Peverell had been surprised was at Mr Lupin's condition. From his questions it sounded like lycans had been considered mythological. Or at least extinct.

Which wasn't a good sign. Dumbledore had been hoping there wouldn't too many differences between the worlds, but there were clearly some very large ones if lycans don't exist in his world.

That armor he was wearing was another difference. It looked distinctive, unique. Clearly custom made and further fashioned from goblin silver. And the goblins had refused to create armor for wizards for centuries.

Too many changes.

However at the suggestion that Mr Peverell wasn't human, Dumbledore just felt tired. Why were people so stupid? He had already recognized some of the spells used to change his voice.

What does it matter that his armor blocks both Moody's eye and his glasses? That in no way implies he's not human. Sometimes he really regrets the necessity of making others feel like their opinions aren't useless.

Besides Mr Peverell had recognized quite a few people by look and name, so his world was unlikely to be that drastically different. And his armor was completely the wrong shape to be a goblin, despite evidence suggesting otherwise.

And now Mr Peverell was out of their reach. Wandered off to explore this new world. And they had no method tracking him.

Maybe they could use the summoning ritual again. After all they do have his magical signature now. But it won't be any time soon.

Dumbledore was already swaying in exhaustion. Most of the others had already collapse. Only the desire not to appear vulnerable had kept everyone up. The ritual had drained them far more than anticipated.

Likely do to the goblins that appeared. That so many goblins would be magically linked to a wizard was astounding. Yet another divergence.

At least he had answered most of their questions. He didn't answer anything about his armor or the goblins, but in most areas he was remarkably forthcoming. Not that it helped them much.

Knowing Voldemort never rose in there world was disheartening.

Despite all that he didn't miss the fact that Hadrian had only just graduated. After all his answers gave away quite a bit and winning the Triwizard Tourament makes guessing his age trivial.

Dumbledore was certain Hadian could prove an asset if he decides to help. Like Moody he could see through invisibility charms and seen the armed house-elves. What he was concerned with was restraining the young Peverell.

After all just how violent and terrible was the world he came from that he possessed such powerful magical armor. That had trained a gentle race like house-elves to serve as guards. And worst of all, possessed goblin followers.

Goblins were a proud race. Always ready to defend their honor and rights with violence. The rebellions had also taught them that they would never submit, forcing the wizards to instead sign a series of treaties.

For goblins to follow someone, they have to acknowledge them. Something that hasn't happened to a wizard in centuries. Not since the time of the Founders.

Dumbledore was sure Hadrian would be able to fit in. It was after the war was over he was worried about. After all if too many of the pureblood lines die out their entire society will collapse. Somehow he needed to make sure Hadrian doesn't destroy the wizarding world in the process of saving it.

Dumbledore just hoped he hadn't summoned a monster.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

While the existence of lycans was interesting, I was far more concerns with my kidnapped goblins. Whatever ritual they had used to summon me it wasn't light or even normal magic. It was dark, very dark.

The wounds left on the wizards and goblins who appeared alongside me were horrific. They were bad enough that they were all in danger of dying. I really regretted the fact that none of use were fully trained as healers.

We lost half of them in the first hour and more as time went on. In the end I stopped trying and settle for extending their lives. For the ones I know are going to die soon I paint portraits. I don't get them all, in fact I get very few.

In the end we only save a handful of the wizards and none of the goblins. I managed portraits for three goblins and a wizard. A pitiful remnant for what started off so well.

Not that it was my fault. I hadn't anticipated the summoning ritual being so hostile. My armor was more to deal with any welcoming committee, not survive the trip itself. At least everyone who managed to enter Ydddrasil was fine. And I have never seen my girls more appreciative of my paranoia. We were all feeling depressed and exhausted for trying and failing to save the goblins. Maybe they'll stop resisting my efforts for them to get their own armor now.

The next day I questioned the portraits. The news was mixed. While the goblins all knew how to spellforge they all insisted it had to be physically taught. Which meant I only had theoretical knowledge. While it would give me a head start on figuring it out, it'd likely take years if not decades.

It's a real pity none of the survived. It seems once again I'm going to have to deal with Gringotts. At least I shouldn't need any trunks for awhile.

Surprisingly my family have little interest in leaving Yggdrasil anytime soon. They had been mildly curious to see what their counterparts lives had been like, at least until I told them. After all my knowledge of canon gives me a pretty accurate gauge for how changes will affect them. After that they rapidly lost interest.

Ginny had no interest in seeing a shy version of herself being bossed around by her mum. Or worse this world's Molly try to do the same to her. Hermione was disgusted at the very idea of being attracted to Ron. Besides she had lost interest in her parents already and had little Lily now. And Sirius had no intention of going to where he was still considered a criminal.

Only Luna was still interested, but as the most experienced healer among us had to stay until the last four wizards were better. She was also going to be reprogramming them to work for us. While they weren't criminals she agreed their service was a fair price to pay for my defeating Voldemort.

I fully intend to start sending more subjects to her soon under that same reasoning. After all, the house-elves have already managed to retrieve Ravenclaw's Diadem and Slytherin's Locket. The latter was obtained along with this world's Kreacher.

Magic was an interesting thing. Intent and your own knowledge plays an enormous part. I had been made the Black heir by Sirius. Kreacher's magic still registered me as a Black and my Sirius as a head of the family now that there were two. He was more than happy to be given directly to me and avoid everyone in the Order.

Everyone did agree to help me figure out what was different in this dimension. Towards that end the house-elves were already buying as many books as possible. We also emptied the diadem into our Room. Checking for differences between the two sets of memories stored there should also help.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The next morning a house-elf from Hogwart's invites me to breakfast. I don't like sleeping away from my wives, but figured something like this would happen.

Besides, I was eager to get started. We had gone over as much as we could last night, made all the easier since there didn't seem to be many differences. In fact all the differences we found all stemmed from the same fact. That lycans exist.

We found quite a bit on lycans too. Thanks mostly to the diadem. It seems Voldemort had considered turning into a lycan at some point. The history matched what little I remembered from the movies. Genetic mutation, immortal, fighting with vampires.

The rest of it was new or things I had forgotten. Such as the fact that it started in Hungary or that there aren't any large vampire covens in Britain. And what kind of label is coven? I thought that was for witches.

My problem is the memories from my first life are decaying. Occlumency and blood rituals have given me perfect memory and recall along with the ability to sort and organize it all. However it seems dependent on magic. And in my first life I didn't have any magic.

Already the memories are faded. Many of the details missing or washed out. Which is a pain since it seems I'm likely to need them now more than ever.

Except lycans,despite their greater powers, were just as persecuted as the last dimension. Worse in most ways. No doubt to a combination of fear and envy. The laws resembled what were being used by Voldemort's regime in the books. I'm actually surprised Remus wasn't executed when he was outed.

Werewolves do exist, but are much rarer. They also aren't called werewolves. Instead they call them ferals. They're the product of a muggle surviving infection. The lack of magic makes them more vulnerable to the wolf instincts and their behavior slowly changes over time. They also don't seem to be immortal, if anything their lifespans seem shorter do to the strain of shifting.

Voldemort hadn't gone for it because shifting ties up your magic. Much like mistwalking from the last dimension you can't cast in that state. And becoming a vampire was even worse to his mind. While you keep your magic, it gives you one massive vulnerability. An appropriately modified lumos cast by a first year student can kill a vampire. One reason vampires try so hard to fit in.

During his rise Voldemort had, like so many other desperate creaturs, gathered lycans under his banner. Led by Fenrir Greyback and protected by the death eaters, the lycans flourished and the vampire population was wiped out. Strange how despite how some things change the more they stay the same.

I carefully put on my protective items. Sharing a meal in full armor would be awkward and possibly insulting. The obviously dark ritual still bothered me. While I didn't trust them yet, being blatant about it was just rude. So the items were a nice compromise. And I've already had my fun with the voice changer.

Once again the Great Hall is filled with people. The same ones from before, although there are a few new faces. Everyone, but Dumbledore seems startled by my appearance. I barely hold back a laugh.

A place is set for me already. It's also right in the middle of the table. Maybe so everyone can speak with me easier, but it also leaves me surrounded. Vulnerable.

Not if I can help it. "Escort Protocol."

I grin as both Dumbledore and Moody flinch as my house-elves pop into the room. Feeling safer I sit down.

When I raise my cup though my amulet warms up. A potion. Well that or poison, but that's much less likely.

Before I can set it down a wave of magic washes over me. It's subtle. Urging me to drink. Insidious. Whispering of how thirsty I must be. It's also damn powerful. And likely Dumbledore. The Elder Wand really is like a cheat code.

It doesn't matter. I can smell it so it isn't Veritaserum. Anything less has little chance of affecting me for long since none of my house-elves reacted. I drink it.

As almost everyone in the room relaxes I feel a wave of calm wash over me. Really? That's it? A calming potion?

"What is your name?"

"Hadrian Peverell-Potter-Black."

Huh. That was more than I intended to say. Maybe a babbling potion mixed in? Sneaky. Aaand I see that Snape is alive and present so it fits. That also explains the legilimency probe my glasses stopped.

Surprised they haven't sued Veritaserum. Snapes even offering. Odd that Moody turns it down. Ah. That glance. They're worried about my house-elves. Good to know.

"Any relation to James Potter?"

"My father." I continued to head off more questions. "I changed my name to get away from all the automatic assumptions that came with the family name. I wished to declare a fresh start without any political entanglements."

"How was Voldemort defeated on your world?"

"I heard he died in an incident involving a basilisk. He had a fondness for them. However there were no witnesses to his death and they never found his body." This calming potion is actually kind of useful. With the slow flat monotone it forced me to use no one can tell I just used three separate statements.

That seems to have stumped them.

"What are the orders for your house-elves?" Stupid. They really should have asked that first. At least Moody isn't completely useless. Just a bit slow.

"Kill everyone I haven't designated an ally if any magic is forced on me. Casting a spell, force-feeding me a potion or placing a magic item on me all count." Now they worry. Selfish bastards really don't care about violating my rights.

"What are your plans?"

"I intend to explore the world. Likely visit London and Hungary. Maybe America. Study everything I can find."

While Dumbledore is busy sushing everyone who protested my statement, Moody questions me. "Will you join Voldemort?"

"No. I'll likely end up killing him, but not any time soon."

"Why not?"

"Because I have better things to do than save you all from yourselves." Ha! The potions weren't that hard to work around. Already I could feel faint emotions.

Upset several others demanded I explain what I meant. It took several minutes as I thoroughly insulted every aspect of their lives. Even the faint traces I can feel were strong enough to make me smirk.

"Will you seek revenge against us?"

"Yes. Unless a deal is made I will likely treat you no different from Death Eaters." I add graphic details until a few people throw up.

"Are you Dark?"

"No. I've no doubt been called such, but I'm actually grey." Take that stupid bipolar alignments!

"What kind of deal?"

"An oath and a single days service from each of you. Seeing as I was summoned without notice the oath will have to be taken blindly."

As they argue I decide to through them a bone. After all I don't really care about the oath. "The oath will not enslave anyone or be in effect for longer than a year at most."

My terms distracted most of the room, but not all. "Why did the ritual summon you?"

"I don't know. I don't even know what ritual you used." Idiot.

"Is there anything you're exceptional at?"

"Not really." As good as I am, at least one of the girls is always better.

"You're lying." I look down to see glowing runes on the cup I'm holding. Hmm, how to phrase this?

"Ah. I am very good at dueling." I have no idea why everyone suddenly seems so cheerful. Did they already forget I wasn't going to help them?

"Well seeing as how you are new here, how about we hire you as a dueling instructor?" Really? You essentially kidnap me, drug me and interrogate me and just expect me to happily work for you?

I guess this Dumbledore isn't that much less insane than the last.

"In the mean time you have an appointment with the Unspeakables in an hour. Eat up!" The hell?

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Thankfully the potion wore off before my appointment. Apparently as a dimensional traveler I have to register with the Unspeakables. I wonder if my last dimension had a similar rule?

Thanks to my capture of a number of Unspeakables, my trip lacked much of the normal tension. After all the department was very mysterious to me anymore.

While they do use oaths and contracts, there is nothing preventing them from having their portrait painted. And cloaking and obscuration spells don't work if you're stripped and passed through a thief's downfall. Yet another thing I need to learn how to make later.

The interview was odd. They asked hundreds of random questions about my last world. Which about halfway through I realized was actually pretty thorough. I made a note to write out the list later. It might help orient myself when getting summoned.

In the end they just released me. Told me I was Dumbledore's responsibility and I was confined to wizarding britain until I was granted citizenship. A process that would likely take months.

I denied them a sample of my blood. Vague hints at speeding up my citizenship were ignored. Besides they had the gall to tell me flat out murdering me was something they had considered. No way am I cooperating in any way.

If the story stays remotely close to canon within a year Voldemort will go after the prophecy. It'll be the perfect time to stage a raid of my own.

Of course that leaves me with an enormous amount of time to fill.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

They held another meeting after I registered, because of course I didn't have anything better to do than sit around and talk with people all day. Especially people I don't like.

And then Dumbledore had the gall to apologize to me. It wasn't even sincere! It was all 'I regret the necessity, but I was saving lives' and 'can you blame me for taking necessary measures'. Flowery crap for saying 'you should be happy I feel guilty'.

"As compensation I can offer you a very generous salary as a combat instructor here at Hogwarts." Now that was very classic good cop. Especially with Moody following up by going on a spiel on my lack of rights and how I'm technically property according to the laws. He makes a very convincing bad cop.

Huh. That's what he does with Snape too. It's all just mind games with him. So annoying to deal with. Not at all appealing.

Besides Hogwarts has little to offer me. I already took over the Room of Requirement again. The portraits are busy comparing their previous notes to the lessons available and I have house-elves combing through all the books it can produce.

Everyone else starts protesting. Everyone except Dumbledore. Instead he says things like 'distasteful' and 'greater justice'. I was honestly surprised not to hear 'greater good'. What I also didn't here was a solid 'we don't do things like use Unforgivables on our kidnapping victim'.

And then Dumbledore gives an ultimatum. "You have been summoned here for a reason. Magic chose you. If you try to avoid it your destiny. If you try to leave. We will simply summon you again. And while your armor protected you the first time, I doubt you wish to live inside it for the rest of your life."

Dumbledore had gone all out with that last statement. It came across as stern, unyielding, ruthless and slightly regretful. It was enough to silence the room.

My whispered reply echoes across the room. "So much for the illusion of Dumbledore, Leader of the Light."

So very annoying. I guess I'm not going to be allowed to lay low like I wanted. "Summoning Protocol."

The aurors in the room react instantly, firing a number of spells at me. It was too late. My house-elves have trained extensively and often put the armor on before I even finish speaking.

I raise my arms and trigger the 40mm flechette rounds. Twin hails of razor blades slice through everyone in the room. I make sure to hit Moody first. Then I start running sideways, strafing the panicking wizards.

After a few steps I start cycling weapons. Sprays of napalm create a wall of flames that cut the Great Hall in half. A spray of acid is actually blocked by a shield. An anti-tank rocket goes through it with ease.

I activate stealth mode, which is basically every disillusionment, obscuration, silencing, scent erasing and other spell I thought would be useful for sneaking around. Then I fly up.

Smoke and acid fumes were already rising and even if I wasn't invisible I doubt anyone would be able to see me. My armor sensors let me track everything easily.

There are more survivors than I anticipated. In fact more than I started against. Seeing how small many of them are gives it away. The house-elves, loyal to their home, were trying to defend it.

I almost regret what I do next. I cut loose with my grenade launchers. Sending a constant barrage made of all the types of grenades I had. Incendiary, cryo, high explosive, smoke, mustard gas, and a dozen others.

Seeing Dumbledore still standing strong was impressive. He was standing behind an amazing pair of shields that were disintegrating everything solid and converting all the gases into water. He was shouting something, but I was far past the point of caring.

I tumble backwards through the air, my supersensory charm easily compensation for spinning in three dimensions, and aim the launcher mounted on my back. A Stinger anti-air missile slams into the ground beside the shield before Dumbledore has time to react. His shield may stop the fire, but air pressure alone will kill him.

I keep watch for a few minutes, making sure nothing survived. I even take the time to hose down the entire Great Hall in liquid nitrogen. Both to put out the fires and reveal anyone hiding.

With a sigh I land and walk away. It looks like every house-elf in Hogwarts had shown up. Hundreds dead for nothing. None of them had stood a chance. Pointless.

I really hate self-righteous arseholes.


	14. Sweeping Up

Chapter 14 Sweeping Up

It turns out I didn't kill everyone in the castle. Most of them sure, but not all. Remus was the only survivor from the Order, the lack of silver in my weapons allowing him to just barely survive. Madam Pomphrey, the second survivor, was currently treating him.

I was particularly glad she survived because I had a very important question for her. Why had she never done something about Harry? She was clearly malnourished and abused. Why had she never done something about it?

It was something I had wondered from the books. With how often she treated Harry it shouldn't have been hard to discover. This was my first chance to find out however since I had already corrected the issue before ever entering Hogwarts.

The answer was both simple and annoying. The headmaster has an incredibly amount of power over the school. Fitting for an institution that started in the middle ages. That includes the staff.

Dumbledore had simply forbidden her from doing anything about it. She wasn't allowed to help or even report it. And with confidentiality oaths not even quitting would have helped.

It was nice to know at least Madam Pomphrey had a conscience. She along with Professor Sprout had been the only two adults who disagreed with Dumbledore and refuse to show up to interrogate me. Even Mr Filch had been in the Great Hall.

While I was glad there were survivors I could have done without the complications they caused. As a lycan Remus can't be taken to St Mungoes and Madam Pomphrey was occupied saving his life. It was Professor Sprout that let the rest of the world know of Dumbledore's death.

It was far too late to try and stop it. She must have floo-called someone the moment as she felt the wards settle on her. I was still eating lunch when the group of aurors showed up. If I hadn't brought my house-elves back out I'd have likely been caught by surprise.

Damn. I thought I had more time.

I was about to leave when I had an idea. A probably terrible idea. Eh. They already know about me. They can hardly decide I need to be killed more than once. And maybe it'll make at least some of them think twice.

Before I could talk myself out of it I pull the memory of the last two meetings I had, ending it with my armor appearing. Let's see what how they react to that.

At least I already cleared out the headmaster's office. It had been one of the places I just hadn't the opportunity to do so the last two times. Not that there was much besides the pensieve, but it was the principle of the thing.

I've killed or removed Dumbledore three times now. It was about time I got loot from it. Now I just need to figure out what to do with Fawkes.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

With Voldemort active and now without an opponent he'll be able to move faster. Which means I need to move first. And I already know what to do. After all I've already done it once before.

Azkaban is exactly the same as I remember it. Bleak, foggy and cold.

The dementors swarm me just like last time. And just like before my trunk chains snake out and kill most of them before capturing the rest. They're like lemmings.

My armor makes the assault even easier. The guards are tired and depressed. They are also generally not very skilled, relying on the dementors to keep order. None of them manage to get through my armor. Or even scratch it.

I take the time to stun each of them before erasing their memories. Then I kidnap all the death eaters before burning down the jail. I missed out last time, but now I can have portraits made for all of them.

Although I do leave the LeStrange brother's heads mounted at the ferry. After all I want to make sure there is no dispute over the fact Bellatrix is the last LeStrange.

My next stop was the Gaunt shack for the last of the easy horcruxes. I have no idea why Dumbledore still had the diary, but at least it let my test a theory. It turns out a dementor can eat a horcrux without destroying the vessel.

A quick fiendfyre later and I now have yet another Resurrection Stone. Sure I have pet dementors, but a withering curse is a pain to remove. I just need the Cloak and I'll have this world's set. Not that it means anything. I'd likely just give it to Luna's dad since he the only one who cares.

With the ring gone there are only two left. Nagini, who's probably with Voldemort, and Harry. Fortunately I already know how I'm going to handle both of them.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Harriet Potter, Harry to her friends, was feeling pretty depressed. The past year had been a disaster. Being selected as the fourth champion had made it like second year all over again. Except now she had two friends who stayed with her.

She hadn't expected Ginny to turn out to be such a good friend. Especially not after how much of a creep her brother Ron acted towards her. Always insulting her and then turning around and trying to get her to go out with him. He was giant prat.

Seeing Cedric, who she might have had a sort of crush on, die in front of her and because she was trying to be nice to him. Then for her friends to just not tell her anything. Didn't they know Voldemort was out there? She needed to know what was happening.

Instead she got useless stupid, vague advice. Be nice, don't make waves, get along, don't ask questions. Always the same thing. It doesn't matter who.

How dare they treat her like that! She didn't see them facing Voldemort multiple times! They didn't see Cedric die in front of them. And they didn't have to fight Voldemort after being tortured and manage to escape by herself!

Harry sighed. She wasn't sure why she ever expected different. Her whole life was like that. No one telling her anything and getting upset at her when she tries to find out. The Dursleys, the Professors, Dumbledore. She just hadn't expected it from her friends.

This summer was particularly hard since people had started to notice she was a girl. The Dursleys had taken to locking her away days at a time after the first time Dudley tried to touch her. Saying she had used her freakishness on him. And going out wasn't much better.

Dudley had a gang and all of them looked her in ways that made her skin crawl. Being locked up was turning out to be the better part of her summer. Her life was pathetic.

It was in the midst of such depressing thoughts that she heard the pop. "Dobby?"

The house-elf was barely recognizable, covered in soot and bandages. His eyes seem even widen than normal and were heavily blood-shot. "What are you doing here?"

Dobby gave a nervous glance around before whispering. "Dobby came to mistress. No where else to go. Please hide Dobby."

"You don't even have to ask. You can stay with me as long as you need." Her warning about the Dursleys when unheard as Dobby collapsed. Poor thing, he looks exhausted.

What had happened to Dobby? Was he kicked out? Did Voldemort attack Hogwarts?

The sound of shouting drew her attention. As expected it was Vernon. But for once it wasn't at her. Or about his job. It sounded like he was yelling at someone... outside?

At hearing the word 'freaks' Harry scrambled over to the window. Despite herself she felt a surge of hope. Maybe her so called friends came to pick her up?

Instead she saw... she actually wasn't certain what she was looking at. It was a man and he was in metal armor. But the armor looked weird. It was made from lots of small silver pieces and seemed to have glowing lines and runes all over it. Weird little tubes seemed to stick out all over and the face was blank.

Maybe it's not a person. Maybe it's a robot or something? One of the news articles had talked about spy drones and they were all smooth and metal. The way it just stood there did make it seem like a robot.

Then it replied. She couldn't hear the words, but she heard the voice. It made her shiver. It sounded so very wrong. All shivery and echoing. It was the worst thing she had ever heard. Scarier even than Voldemort or the basilisk.

And Dobby recognized it if the way he jerked awake and shrieked meant anything. "He's here! Mistress needs to run away and hide!"

Unfortunately she couldn't get much more than that out of Dobby. He barely made any sense, swaying from how tired he is and panicking in terror. His repeated warnings also meant she couldn't listen in on the conversation below.

Then the door slammed. "Harry!" Crap. Vernon clearly blamed her even if she didn't know what was going on. She could hear his footsteps pounding up the stairs. She needs to hide Dobby somehow!

An explosion distracts them both. She cracks open her door to peek out. Vernon is halfway up the stairs, but he's turned around. Behind him the front door is just gone. Small pieces of burning wood are scattered all over the living room and even the frame had chunks missing from it.

"Now see here! You freaks aren't allowed in here!" Uncle Vernon's rant suddenly stops. Harry gapes in horror at the stump where his head used to be.

"Vernon!" Aunt Petunia's voice cuts off just was quickly as the robot points an arm at the kitchen and shoots an incredibly fast blue beam. It moved faster than any spell she had seen before. Maybe it was a magic robot?

Was it sent by Voldemort? Was it here to kill her too?

Panicking she only noticed the robot getting closer when Dobby popped in front of her. Then there was flash of red light and he collapsed. "No! Dobby!"

He had been a friend. He had tried to save her. And now he was gone. She wasn't even sure why she kept whispering. "Wake up. Please wake up."

A pair of metal boots landed next to Dobby's body. She didn't care. She didn't even flinch when the arm pointed at her. The last thing she heard was that horrible voice saying something.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Harry woke up feeling oddly disoriented. She must have fallen asleep after crying. Which was embarrassing. Suddenly remembering what she was supposed to be doing she started whistling as she packed!

She had always dreamed of a relative swooping in and saving here and now it was coming true! The oath he gave was a nice gesture, but just looking at him had been enough to convince her. He looked just like the pictures she had of their dad.

That he was her brother she had no doubt. How else could he have her moms eyes? The same eyes as her. Or the Potter family ring? He even spoke parseltongue!

Finished packing she walked down the stairs trying not to pay attention to the shape covered in a large sheet. She still felt like something was wrong with her. After all seeing Hadrian kill the Dursleys didn't make her feel bad. Worse, she even felt a little happy.

It still made her feel sick. Feeling happy like that. Like she really was a freak. She couldn't wait to get out of there.

Her mom's voice broke her from her thoughts. "Please! Not Harry!"

"Mom?"Suddenly noticing frost forming on the windows, Harry realized what was going on. Dementors! That's why she was feeling sick too!

She hurries downstairs with her wand, but freezes at what she sees. Hadrian had some kind of box and large chains were coming out of it and tearing the pair of dementors apart.

Seeing him standing there calm and unaffected was enough to make her feel safe. He was so cool! Everyone had told her that dementors couldn't be hurt and now here her brother was killing the stupid things.

"Huh, I had forgotten about those. Must have just missed them." Did he mean what that sounded like? Was he was hunting dementors? Go big brother! Kill them all!

Suddenly a house-elf popped. He looked just like Dobby. Well except not hurt. And he was dressed in a scaly muggle suit. And was also holding a old looking gun and a very large dead snake. "Master. It is done."

'Good. And Malfoy Manor?" Harry was really glad her brother had taken off his helmet. That voice changer still gave her the willys. His real voice was so much better.

And his face. Cedric who? Oh why did he have to be her brother! Harriet barely resisted pouting. Life really wasn't fair.

But the Malfoys? Was he attacking them next? She really didn't like Draco. More than once she had to hex him for trying to touch her and Snape always tried to say it was her fault.

"Gone." Wait, what? "Good, thank you Dobbins." The similar name was interesting but she was having trouble getting past the fact that Malfoy Manor was gone. Harry would bet that meant blown up too.

Does that mean he killed them? What about...what was she thinking about again?

Oh yeah. Hadrian gives the best head pats. She always though ruffling someones hair was a kiddy thing, but it felt nice even though she was mostly grown up.

Maybe it was a big brother thing. After all they were supposed to protect their little sisters. Just like from the dementors. And now the Malfoys! No more worrying about Draco trying to get her alone!

Hearing sirens worried her until Hadrian put his hand on her shoulder. It was like he could always tell when she was feeling nervous.

Oh. Seeing the armor appear she realized he just didn't want to scare her. Well, close enough. "Don't move." Yep. That voice was still super scary.

Then there was a weird squeezing and stretching sensation. Like she was being sucked through a giant straw. It also felt vaguely familiar. She was still trying to remember where when it stopped.

And then... they were somewhere else.

Harry didn't recognize where they were. Which makes sense since she's really never been anywhere. But even after Hogwarts she had never imagined a place like this!

The castle before her was massive! She thought Hogwarts was big, but this made it look tiny! You could fit Hogwarts and Hogsmeade in there. Even from where she was standing she could see at least three rings of walls and towers surrounding the main part, each spread far apart.

Each set of walls was taller than the next, making them easy to see. Smoke columns of smoke meant there were probably smaller buildings between the walls. The handful of tall skinny towers jutted over the walls scattered around supported that idea. They didn't look out of place though, somehow still fitting in perfectly.

Everything seemed to be made from a sparkling light blue stone that glittered in the soft light. The sky was just as gorgeous. It shimmered with waves of color like the pictures she had seen of the northern lights

Even the grass was pretty. Deep green with tiny glowing dew drops. Everything was like something from a dream.

"Welcome to the Bifrost." Hadrian's voice broke her from her shock. He had removed his armor without her noticing. He had also seen her just standing there and staring. Harry felt her cheeks heating up. Worse a carriage had somehow snuck up on her as well!

The carriage was brilliant, with super comfy seats and giant windows so she didn't miss anything. She went wide-eyed when they passed the first wall and saw a massive moat. It looked like the rest of the castle was floating inside the middle of a lake. And the carriage didn't slow down. It just drove right over the water.

She must have sounded like Hermione, constantly asking questions about everything. Hadrian was patient and answered them, even if she couldn't understand most of his answers.

A nice snack and a new bed. Like she could go to sleep now. She was way too excited. Still, she let her brother tuck her in, a happy first for her.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I walk away from Harry's room with a grin. She had passed out as soon as her head hit the pillow. So far everything was going perfectly. Well, everything was back on track at least.

Idiotic controlling bastard. Dumbledore just had to keep pushing didn't he? And what did it get him? Nothing. I was going to spare him. Probably.

I guess it doesn't matter now.

For a last minute improv things worked out fairly well. Dumbledore and the Order dead. All the horcruxes save harry destroyed. Voldemort likely without a body again. Azkaban and the dementors destroyed.

And I got to make up for a few things I missed before. Looting Dumbledore's office. Making portraits of the senior death eaters, especially Rookwood. And Bellatrix because I was really curious why she liked Voldemort so much.

Now I just have the loose ends. Most of them back at Hogwarts. Picking up Remus. Killing and harvesting the basilisk. Find out if the aurors are trying to arrest me.

Well kill me more likely since I'm not a citizen. Or even a being technically. Stupid Unspeakables. Maybe I should raid them? After all Voldemort isn't around to set up the trap anymore. Maybe wait until I see if the aurors are after me yet.

Then it's just shopping. But that can wait. Being hunted will affect anything else I try. So Hogwarts.

It only takes me a moment to apparate there. Sneaking in with the Marauder's Map and my armor in stealth mode is a snap.

And there are a lot of aurors there. Including some in the infirmary. Although most are in the Great Hall. As is Madam Bones herself. And a whole team of Unspeakables. At least if the dots without a name are any indication.

Time to face the music. I move over to the main doors and push them open. It was sloppy not to post any guards outside. Everyone turns to face me.

It was the Unspeakables who address me first. "Hadrian Peverell for proving to be a disruptive element you have been sentences to passage through the Veil of Death. Please come along quietly."

Really? Does that ever actually work? Just how disconnected to reality are they? Even some of the aurors are looking at them in disbelief.

"Failure to comply will result in our use of force." Yeah. No.

My house-elves strike the moment I snap my fingers. Multiple tranquilizer darts filled with Draught of Living Death hit each Unspeakable. Before they hit the ground they vanish, whisked away by the same house-elves.

"Next?" I don't bother keeping the amusement from my voice. As everyone shudders I can't resist chuckling. I forgot how creepy everyone finds the voice. I keep forgetting none of them have much experience with special effects.

One of the aurors fires a spell and even as I lean out of its path I draw my 'dueling wand' and send a tracer round into his head. The speed of my spell seems to have frozen all the aurors who were about to also act, no one wanting to be first.

"Hold!" Bones snaps out the order and I'm impressed to see almost all of them lower their wands. I lower mine and predictably someone tries to stun me. Idiot. I didn't even have my wand drawn last time. Another bullet ends his idiocy.

"I said hold! The next auror to attack is suspended." Seeing the rest of the aurors, clearly nervous, but not attacking I sheath my wand. Not that it really means much, but the gesture seems to help.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Amelia Bones took great pride in her sense of justice. However she was also realistic. They had been combing through the wreckage of the the Great Hall for hours had had uncovered dozens of bodies. Dumbledore, Moody and several aurors among them. There were also almost a hundred house-elves, practically the entire population.

And they all had one thing in common. They had all been killed. Not assassinated or ambushed. In a pitch battle with all of them against a single being.

Thank Merlin Madam Sprout had let her know first. It gave her time to secure to scene and contain the situation. It was going to come out, but she had time to figure out how to handle the fallout.

At least Cornelius wasn't liable to make too much of a fuss. He'd been panicking over Dumbledore and Potter for weeks now. He was more liable to try and give Mr Peverell an Order of Merlin.

So when said being showed back up she already didn't plan on fighting it. In fact she was going to request an interview when the bloody Unspeakables spoke up. She wasn't too proud to admit she had been prepared to run. Against something like that, there just wasn't any point. You don't charge an enraged dragon. You get out of it's way.

Then it snapped its fingers and the Unspeakables, boogymen of the ministry, all simply vanished. The wards were still intact, there was no portkey trace. They simply disappeared. As if they had already known about it's abilities weren't bad enough.

Amelia had wanted, again, to request an interview. Even more politely than she originally planned too. After all she had gotten some information from Madam Pomphrey and Professor Sprout. Sadly they didn't know too much since they refused to help Dumbledore after the first time. Probably a good thing or they wouldn't even know as much as they currently did.

But Hadrian Peverell seems reasonable. Or at least polite. He didn't even hunt them down, only killing everyone at the meeting. And then Auror Dawlish has to go and attack him. If Mr Peverell hadn't killed him she might have.

What in Merlin's name was Dawlish thinking? And Cooper? Is her entire department made up of dunderheads? Are they suicidal? Did they even see how fast that spell traveled?

So far the only survivor was Remus Lupin. And despite being a lycan his wounds would keep him in the infirmary for weeks. All that without dark magic residue or silver. Even Dumbledore had been killed.

"I said hold! The next auror to attack is suspended."

Amelia wasted no time in dismissing all of the aurors to secure the area. She didn't want to take any chances that another idiot will try his luck and push things too far. She'd at least like to see her niece graduate before dying.

Questioning Mr Peverell went much smoother than she had dared to hope. Mostly he confirmed what she had already found out. He did confirm the memory left on Dumbledore's desk was his. Evidence left to explain why he killed everyone.

The way he explained it was unsettling. Calm, bored. Like he had swatted a fly. Unimportant. Not something a large scale battle should be considered.

What the hell had Dumbledore summoned? There was a reason dark rituals like that were banned!

And despite the other two mentioning how he looked human she just can't picture it. Not when listening to that nightmarish voice. She was going to need a Dreamless Sleep potion after this. Maybe even a mind healer.

Thankfully it turns out she didn't have to deal with it. The Unspeakables already had jurisdiction. Let them deal with the mess.

For once Amelia was glad for the existence of Rita Skeeter. She was going to let her know Dumbledore had tried to summon something with a dark ritual and everyone who had helped him died. She won't even have to lie. Skeeter will convince everyone Dumbledore was summoning demons within a week.

As for Fudge. Let him deal with the Unspeakables if he wants to know more. At least if he manages to find any. Amelia wasn't sure, but she had a strong suspicion that Mr Peverell wasn't going to just ignore the Department of Mysteries now that they placed a death sentence on him.

Not her problem. After talking with Ms Skeeter she was taking a vacation.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Madam Bones was a lot more reasonable that I expected. I actually thought she was going to be all stern and uncompromising and force me to kill her. It's always nice to find out someone's more reasonable than their reputation suggests. Maybe it's because it's a different dimension?

Either way I don't stay in Hogwarts long. I drop by the Chamber of Secrets to kill off the basilisk. Poor thing really is insane. Solitary confinement isn't good for anything.

I leave Luna behind since she wanted to explore this version of the Forbidden Forest. She already knows it's different since wargs don't exist here.

Then it's off to the infirmary. I pick up Mr Lupin, thank Madam Pomphrey for not being a kidnapping slaver and only mildly cripple the aurors who try to interfere. A small gesture of good will in the face of what I'm about to do next.

I head straight to the ministry phone booth. Stunner to the guard and just shake my head as no alarms sound. It's like this place had never been attacked before.

Take the elevator down. Department of Mysteries. Tricky to navigate, unless you've already mind ripped a few Unspeakables and know the secret.

It's not as crowded as I expected. I always figured Voldemort had arranged for it to be empty for the ambush. Maybe it's normally pretty empty? Tempus. Maybe it's just because it's late?

I have my house-elves capture everyone I can find. All eight of them.

I take my time looking around since I'm in no hurry. I have a team of house-elves watching the elevator. I steal all the time turners, including the three they confiscated. And finally I replace the prophecy orb with a mandrake root again.

I can't pick it up. Doesn't mean I can't just smash it. And...good. it's the same. So no changes. Now I just need to remember to warn Harry not to ever touch it.

They also have quite a few books. Most of them incredibly old. I take them all. Thankfully between house-elves and my own Room of Requirement I can perfectly preserve them. I spend a whole day down there. Stealing everything I can and kidnapping every Unspeakable that shows up.

Some of the more useless stuff I just chunk through the Veil. It's the only thing I can't seem to affect. And the notes I stole just tell me that the Unspeakables don't have any idea either. What it can do is seemingly absorb an endless supply of useless junk I hadn't gotten around to mulching or incinerating yet. And putting part of a object through causes the entire thing to vanish. Which is worrying since why hasn't the entire planet been eaten then?

Bored I end up using one of the time turners to spend time with Harry. Showing off the castle, which is pretty empty so far. After all it was intended for guests and trading with the outside world and the rest of Yggdrasil was no where near ready for something like that.

Although a few of Harry's comments gave some ideas on how to start fixing that. The main issue was there had been no reason to set up a staff before. And I hadn't set one up because it was a waste of resources. But I can use the same principle behind my automaton soldier project here.

Now I'm tempted to keep her. After all she had provided an invaluable insight. And a fresh perspective never hurts. Besides, what does she have to return too?

The Tournament isolated her, cutting her off from the student body and letting her know she only has two friends. Even then they still aren't very close. The two girls forceful personalities easily overshadowing hers.

And neither of them have bothered to write her this summer. Harry has a vague, desperate hope that Sirius can become her family, but she hasn't been able to spend enough time around him for that to formalize. And since he hasn't written anything either, she's feeling alone and betrayed by everyone who should be close to her.

Intentional or not, Dumbledore was steadily destroying her sense of self worth. Isolated her long enough and suicide by martyrdom becomes a reasonable choice. It also means if she forms even one solid attachment, she'll cling to it desperately enough to allow it to redefine her.

One of the few things keeping her there is a sense of responsibility. So I let her know I already disembodied Voldemort again. Sure it won't last, but it does mean she isn't responsible anymore.

I let her know about the prophecy and how the one in the Hall of Prophecies was fake and actually a trap I made just in case. I also start the process of disillusioning her with Dumbledore. Giving her a copy of Ritas book.

Which was enough to get me to spin up a third copy to visit the Daily Prophet and imperius Rita Skeeter. After all it'll be helpful if she writes those books again. Although Lockhart's and Dumbledore's books will end differently.

I even make a stop to assassinate Umbridge afterwards. I considered killing Fudge too, but hopefully without Malfoy or Dumbledore he won't be as bad. Besides he didn't try to assassinate my new little sister.

I also had her send a few letters off. I'm not really sure why Harry felt guilty about going on vacation without telling her friends, but I don't want that hanging over her head. I help her charm them so only the target can read them and so they vanish after being read.

I also add a small confundus to aggravate their frustration over the lack of detail. They'll do the rest themselves. And a few hypocritical letters from her 'friends' will drive quite a wedge between them.

She does writes a more detailed letter to Sirius, letting him know about Voldemort. She lets him now that Voldemort will likely need a death eater to resurrect himself. And if he wasn't going to leave the country, maybe he would like to do something about it? After all he's already sentenced to the Dementor's Kiss. They can hardly sentence him to death twice.

I don't even have to give her more than a nudge. Sirius has already abandoned her for revenge more than once. He hasn't had time to change her opinion of him.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

We waited a few days before leaving. Both so her friends could send letters back and so Luna could finish exploring. Both paid off in spades.

Harry's letters were far worse than I thought they would be. Given how extreme they are, I'm not even sure if the confundus was necessary. They sound less like friends and more like supervisors or managers.

They actually make me feel bad enough for her to introduce her to my wives. I swear her to secrecy, but she still understands how much of a gesture of trust that was. They all like her and she loves having female friends.

Time and I have worn off most of the rough edges from Hermione and Ginny. And although they've developed their own interests they relate better to her than the ones from this dimension. Not surprising really, Harry is far more mature than they are.

They also take her shopping for her first new clothes that aren't uniforms. By the time they return they've all bonded. It helps that Harry loves little Lily, who's almost two and entirely adorable, and volunteers to babysitter hers and my mother's namesake.

Luna somehow persuaded this unicorn herd to move to Yggdrasil as well. In only two days too. She also brought in more thestrals. And then told me she was adopting her younger self.

I'm not really sure how I feel about that. I guess I can't argue against it since I'm taking Harry. Maybe she can be friends with Harry? I'm just glad the other two don't want to do the same.


	15. Shopping Spree

Chapter 15 Shopping Spree

Our first stop is America. I have a number of errands to run there. The most important of which is to search for a man named Michael Corvin. I was lucky the name had stuck with me. One of those random memory fragments that for no reason is exceptionally easy to recall.

It's only 1995 right now. Underworld came out while I was in highschool. So early 2000s. Which gave me roughly a decade to find him. He wasn't old in the movie. A hospital intern. So legal, but less than thirty. So likely a kid now.

For some reason I keep thinking american. Which might just be the actor. Still America is much more computerized than anywhere else. It wouldn't be too hard to search. Besides I have other business here as well.

Despite the rocky start it was incredibly easy. The first imperio brought in an auror squad. They dropped in almost instantly. Surprised I only managed to capture one, killing the others reflexively. I may need to scale back my combat training.

Then I interrogated him. I learned the special ward they use that blocks their detectors. More importantly I learned that the wizarding world is even more divorced than in Britain. Other than magic detectors they completely ignore the muggle part of the country.

Which gives me pretty much free reign.

I quickly ordered a large variety of very specialized equipment. All custom made for me. Massive custom non-powered telescopes. Tools to etch incredibly small runes. Tools to print runes on sheets of metal. Modern versions of every muscle-powered machine in history. Super comfortable furniture. And a host of other items. I also let the girls add anything they want to the list.

No doubt when the IRS investigated Kenneth Lay they'll have a number of questions. Not that I feel any guilt. Legilimency had been enough to reveal Enron was just as crooked here as in my first life.

In the meantime we spent our time playing tourist. Even though I originally grew up in America, vacations were a lot more fun when you had an unlimited budget.

Then we visited a museum exhibit dedicated to Frank Richtig. And I sensed magic.

As soon as I could to left and used the Resurrection Stone. Richtig knives were famous for their incredible ability to maintain an edge. It turns out it isn't a secret trick. He didn't realize it, but he was imbuing his knives with magic as he created them.

In other words, he was spellforging.

Unfortunately souls can't be summoned for very long. They suffer the longer that they stay. Still, it was enough to know that humans are able to learn spellforging. And I doubt he'd be any better than the goblin portraits at teaching it. I did get some notes and tips before dismissing him.

Our last stop was closer to a raid. It was to the Library of Congress. And we didn't visit it. Instead we snuck in and copied it. Well, at least the house-elves did. When I told Hermione she didn't even say anything, just ran for the library. I doubt she'll leave until it's all properly been sorted and indexed.

It was our last stop because my search was over. Michael Corvin was in the America. New York specifically New York City. He was older than I thought. Almost twenty years old. And in college.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I feel slightly bad about kidnapping Michael. After all I loved the Underworld movies. One of the reasons I still remembered so much from them. And now, thanks to my actions, they'll never happen.

It's odd to think that a genetic quirk can hold so much potential. And it is purely genetic since Michael doesn't have a trace of magic in him.

There is no way I'm about to let such an obscure trait die out with him so I move him to an empty habitat. One of the thousands that were prepared, but only held a few generic plants so far.

Then it was off to Europe. To play tourist, buy books, and find more creatures. Including a vampire. Not to mention purchase a ton of female slaves.

It would take time, but I planned to just institute a mass breeding program. Eventually I'd have enough people with the Corvinus strain to use for experiments.

Since I've already destroyed canon, I decide to go for broke. I wasn't going to grab any vampire. I was going to kidnap Marcus. After all he has a version of the Corvinus strain. And it wasn't like it'd be difficult since he was still hibernating.

Hermione really is a genius. Not only did she invent the Point Me spell that points due north, she developed an improved version that can find anything. Just like the summoning spell you just have to picture it or know the name for it.

It was a truly brilliant spell. And she had invented it when she was only fourteen. I hadn't noticed the lack of it in the spellbooks until now. Then Harry had taught it to me in response to finding out I was searching for someone.

Its an amazing spell. Practically a cheat code against anyone who lacks protective magic. Between that spell and my armor I was done in less than a week.

The main vampire base was easy enough to find. Use the spell to find Viktor and Marcus. Then just walk in and kill everything in the way. I suppose the fact that they've been restricted to a covert war for so long explains how easy it was.

It was like a shooting gallery. It's easy to shoot people when they can't hurt you. Even their strongest weapons, grenades and sniper rifles, only chip my armor plates. Then the plates are ejected and replaced.

It was honestly disappointing. These were vampires? They were so dependent on guns that none of them even tried to fight me in melee range. At least there they might have had a chance to inconvenience me.

The so called living undead were honestly pathetic. Other than an odd relationship with gravity that allows them to cling to walls, they don't seem to be anything special. In fact I caught several of them choking on a gas grenade. What kind of vampire can suffocate?

Honestly if they weren't needed to create hybrids I'd probably wouldn't have even bothered. Well, at least until I remembered that spiderman trick. I'm really curious how that works. And drop from the top of buildings without problems.

Hmm. Probably just as well I did go after them. I'd only end up kicking myself later on for missing out.

About the only things I really do like are the death dealers coats. I like them enough that I take a few. It needs a helmet, but it's still pretty awesome looking. And since I really don't like robes, I'm going to use the design for my own wizards.

I was kind of glad I didn't run into Selene. It'd be a pity to have to kill one of my favorite movie characters. Truthfully I really wanted to try and recruit her and her family. Except that would mean waiting for something like a decade. Way too high a risk of missing out on everything by being greedy.

Maybe if one of the future dimensions has lycans I'll try it.

In the end I kidnap the vampire elders Viktor and Marcus. It's pretty convenient that they came prepackaged. I also grab whoever was still alive after I grabbed the elders. I don't want to risk killing the elders with the first and riskiest experiments.

As for lycans, Lucien is just as easy to find with the Point Me spell.

I like Lucien. He didn't disappoint. He's just like his character in the movies. All calm, polite and determined. He didn't even seem to mind the fact I beat up his entire army. Although that might be because I didn't kill any of them.

Call them cowards if you want, but the lycans are pragmatic. If they can't hurt you one way they stop trying. It took them less than a minute to start shifting to close in melee. Unfortunately I don't like being knocked around.

I concentrate and feel the odd sensation of mistwalker activate. Something unique from the last universe, it was something both the death eaters and order of the phoenix had used in the movies. It was a lot like gaseous form from Dungeons and Dragons, but was so much better.

A cross between apparition, flying and self-transfiguration. It was the ability shone in the movies that let them turn into a flying ghostly version of themselves. It made you incredibly fast and maneuverable. Paired with the reduced visibility of your body and the surrounding cloud and it was very difficult to target you. It's only real drawback was that your magic was completely engaged and so you couldn't use any spells.

Paired with my already enhanced abilities it let my throw the lycans around like toys.

I like Lucien enough I don't kidnap him. Instead I trade him a vial of Michael's blood for a vial of his own. And for not pointlessly wasting my time by making me kill them all, I let them know that two of the vampire elders are already dead.

I stayed long enough for Lucien to turn into a hybrid and collect a vial of his new blood. He was in such a good mood that he didn't even mind my hiring Singe. After all the reason Singe had originally been turned was now gone.

I was generous. Since I was getting a gifted immortal scientist for myself I gave another vial of blood so his remaining lieutenant could be converted into a hybrid. And as for Singe, I promised him safety and better medical facilities.

It was worth it. Even if he somehow does find out everything about the Corvinus virus I can always introduce him to magical species. I highly doubt I'll ever run out of work for him. No doubt he'll also turn himself into a hybrid eventually, but my dangling the possibility of creating something even better inspired him to throw himself into his work.

Since I skipped Lucien I make sure to go after William. I'm not really sure if I'll ever need the first werewolf, but having the option is always good.

Magic really is cheating. Point Me spells to find him. Vanishing charms to remove doors and walls. Unlocking and animation charms to free him. And finally cutting charms to remove his limbs and make him manageable.

It doesn't matter how strong and fast you are if you have no limbs. I had already done the same to the vampires.

Remus, even more of a coward in this dimension since he lacks even the excuse of a rapid wolf mind sharing his brain, is the only one I didn't cripple. As weak willed as he is and imperio is more than enough.

Somehow I'm not surprised when the Point Me spell doesn't work on Alexander Corvinus. After all, since the active Corvinus virus is magical it makes sense that he would be as well. I guess it was too much to hope to grab all three original immortals.

Somehow I'm not surprised Fenrir Greyback is also protected by magic. I guess that would have been too easy. Not like it really matters. If I can't find lycans, I'll just have to create my own.

It wasn't hard to pick up a number of muggles. Most of the girls in the brothels were slaves and were desperate to escape. And there must of have been hundreds of brothels just in Budapest alone. With so many to choose from I could afford to be picky.

Michael, if he ever somehow escapes and tells his story, will be envied among men everywhere. I put together a harem of 1500 beautiful women for him. Enough to impregnate one a day and have each woman bear a child every four years. And a few spares for deaths in childbirth and other complications.

And as for the people running the brothels? I fed them to Remus and Singe. Sure most of them died. But there were a lot of brothels. And every single one had guards and managers. Often times they even had cooks and other staff. It was statistically impossible for none of them to survive the bite.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Gerald sometimes thought accepting this job had been a mistake. When the ad first came out it had seemed like a dream come true. And in many ways it was.

He was rich now. The pay for his job is incredibly generous. Unfortunately no one had read the fine print. The penalties were so much worse. Gerald hadn't actually broken any of the rules yet, but he had seen those who had. If they were lucky they were only missing a limb and were using a prosthetic. The rest were tortured to death.

The scariest part was the contract was for three years. The training facility was underground and isolated. They were allowed to send and get letters but that was their only contact with the outside.

The training itself was bizarre. They were being taught on how to serve as domestic servants. Weird ones too. Their schedule said they'd first learn the basics, followed by pureblood servant customs, house-elf protocals and finally the rules for several foreign places.

And that was only the first year. After that came secretary work, note taking, and a bunch of other jobs. Gerald wasn't sure what they were even trying to accomplish. When they finished they'd be the best trained minimum wage workers ever. Which just seems stupid.

Maybe they're going to open some kind of school. It'd make sense. Hiring all those different tutors can't be cheap. Offer the best of the graduates teaching positions and then train others for money. It'd make sense then why they told them they'd all get portraits painted of them and the top ten would get a copy to keep. They'd want to show off their graduates later on. At least if any of them survive.

Despite the twelve hour days it should have been pretty easy. Household charms have been around for centuries. Except they can't use their wands. In fact using one is one of the reasons they cut your arm off. Hell, most of their trainers were actually muggles.

They are allowed to use these little self-charging rune tablets though. In fact designing new ones will grant you a decent bonus. And then it's made available for the rest to use. He regrets not taking Ancient Runes before, but he's studying them in the evenings. Him and a lot of others. After all the more tablets they have the easier their job gets.

And it isn't like there is that much else to do. There's a small library, which predictably, is mostly dedicated to runes. Although it does have a decent fiction section. And a single giant tavern. They share the tavern with a dwarf village of all things.

They did get a few perks. The perks were odd though. They had to paid for with a second currency which were these large tokens. Everyone got exactly one every Friday and more can be bought at the store, although they weren't cheap. They an also be sold back at a very slight discount.

What hey can't be, is stolen. The first person who did died horribly from what someone said was a withering curse. The tavern had gambling tables that let you safely gamble with them and they were quickly becoming a secondary currency.

Between gambling and just buying more tokens Gerald was fairly certain several of them will end the contract just as broke as when they started.

The main place the spent the tokens was at the brothel. Well sort of brothel. It was actually run by a group of currael and they only gave blowjobs. Mind you, they were amazing blowjobs, the kind that made you weak in the knees and walking funny afterwards.

After the first month Gerald stayed far away from there. Somehow someone had managed to get four tokens and spent them all at the same time. Seeing his shriveled up corpse was enough to scare him away.

There was also a very fancy restaurant. In fact it would only accept payment in the form of tokens. He had eaten there once and was thinking about doing it again.

So far Gerald hadn't even been tempted to try any of the other options. He had never been all that adventurous and given how dangerous the brothel was, how bad would the things he knew were dangerous?

Why on Merlin's name would anyone ever want to talk with aracumantula? Who cares if you can barter with them for silk? Sure it's valuable and you can make a lot of money. You can also die! He had read the brochure. It specifically mentioned safety not being guaranteed.

Nope, Gerald was quite happy just collecting his very high pay and selling his tokens. You can't spend money if you die. And it wasn't like he needed to earn more money. After all he didn't have any real expenses right now. Basic meals and clothing, in the form of uniforms, were all free.

What money he did spend wasn't much. There was only one store, but everything in it was quite cheap. Cheaper in fact than what you would pay normally. And jukeboxes only cost a knut. Even the movie theater only costs a sickle.

There was even a bank! And not a Gringotts either. Just a small normal one run by dwarves. You just rent out expanded storage boxes. Simple and easy with no long cart rides. It didn't even have guards!

Not that they needed them. After the example of the tokens, no one was willing to try to steal anything. And breaking any other rules was equally bad.

They had figured it out too. It was the damn house-elves. They went everywhere and cleaned everything, all without being seen. Obviously they also spied on them. Which frankly is incredibly creepy. Half the reason he wants a vacation is just to get rid of the sensation of invisible eyes staring at him all the time.

It didn't help the first time he overslept he woke up to a house-elf standing on his chest staring at him from only a few inches away. He almost had a heart attack!

Not that the house-elves are the only reason he's taking the vacation. He has a family he's looking forward to going back to. The past few months had been hard enough. He wasn't sure how much worse it'll be after a year.

At least there is a yearly vacation. It requires signing a much stricter contract and costs a token, but was worth it. In fact, he'd already paid for his. That way he has less chance of forgetting.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Singe had never been happier to go into the field of biochemistry. It had been his mistress for many years and had never failed him. First Lucien had offered him immortality in return for his expertise. And now it had led him to here.

Hadrian was easy to get along with. In many ways he was just a more powerful version of Lucien. Calm, analytical, ruthless. He lacked the burning drive Lucien did. The utter hatred. Which is probably a good thing. Powerful emotions often get in the way of science.

Singe had been sorely tempted to upgrade himself into a hybrid as quickly as possible. Easily accomplished if he really was to be continuing his work with the Corvinus virus. After all he'd need access to Michael Corvin for such a project.

Then Hadrian had made that comment. That damnable offhand suggestion. The possibility of an even more powerful hybrid. Singe hadn't been able to get the idea off his mind. Hadrian had known exactly what he was saying.

Ah well. He supposes having a boss that knows how to motivate his employees isn't really a bad thing. And he certainly provides incentives. Singe loved his new lab. It was amazing compared to what he had been working with before. If he had been allowed to make a wish list it wouldn't have even half the equipment there.

If he were a less dedicated man though, he might envy his test subject. He had wondered how Hadrian had convinced Michael Corvin to work for him. He supposes offering him an enormous harem works. The fact that the harem was also a breeding program and source of test subjects was simply genius.

No need for risky kidnappings. If one had the resources and time, simply create your lab rats. It spoke of vision and planning. Both of which he admired greatly.

Personally he has no time for such distractions. The occasional visit to the brothel was more than enough for him when he felt he must indulge.

Singe didn't even mind being forces back in school. He wasn't sure how Hadrian had arranged for him to take long distance courses from more than one University at a time, but it was certainly worth it. He was currently pursuing a major in the fields of genetics and immunology as well as broadening his studies by studying general biology and chemistry.

It also lets him start networking. After all who doesn't long to escape death. Maybe some of his professors or fellow students will eventually join him colleagues. Surely a patron as generous as his won't mind a few additional expenses. And by the time he has his degree, the first batch of children would be old enough to start testing.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The break is complete now. Harry is definitely all mine.

Sirius Black died yesterday. I'm pretty sure either he's insane or Dumbledore had done something to him. He had been sending Harry a number of letters doing his best to convince Harry to come back. As if she would ever voluntarily return.

Doubtless out of frustration, he ran with my suggestion and started burning down death eater homes. With the families inside. Yet another reason to think there's something wrong with him. Normal people don't do things like that.

He was caught by aurors and instead of running tried to fight them all. And since Harry had long since stopped writing her former friends since all they did was lecture her and order her to return, she no longer has any ties besides the one to me.

Well me, my wives and this world's Luna. Speaking of which, it seems she won't be going with us. My Luna had given her some money and her father was doing well with the mind healers. Which is another thing they have here I hadn't come across.

Honestly I'm a little surprised the wizarding world is still so similar to the others with dedicated mental health specialists. After all from what their portraits tell me, they have spells that can literally detect mental issues.

Maybe they're missing something? If so hopefully Luna figures it out since she switched her studies to that area. Although judging by her questions it seems Harry is going to end a healer.

Maybe it has because of the relief. The complete lack of any tension since all of my current goals have been achieved. Well at least other than keeping an ear out for Voldemort's return so I can squash him again. Whatever the reason, I finally completed my animagus transformation.

Your animagus is your inner animal. It represents you at your core. Except animals don't have inherent meanings. They carry the meanings we mentally assign them. A coward, having seen Dumbo as a child, might turn into an elephant.

It's assumed, according to the books in at least two dimensions, that magical animals are too intelligent and complicated to be something so simple as a representative animal.

I was hardly simple or normal though was I? I have memories of two different lives and an unorthodox approach to rules that comes from knowing hundreds of magic systems, even if most of them are likely fictional. Harry Potter wasn't, who knows what else is real?

In many ways Voldemort and I are incredibly similar. Personality wise we share a host of traits. Which is why we are both snake animagi.

We have a few key differences though. Voldemort was raised with the wizarding rules on magic. I wasn't and my image of basilisks have been shaped by my knowledge of the monster in the Chamber of Secrets.

I discount the murderous ramblings as insanity due to isolation. What strikes me is the thought of the basilisk as the eternally patient guardian. Content to sleep, but when enraged able and willing to kill everything in it's path. And now I can do the same.

In an interesting twist, I'm a basilisk. I found it years ago but always had trouble finishing the change. Afterwards, feeling the way my thoughts were affected I understand.

It wasn't the relaxation. It was the acceptance of my actions. How I acknowledge my tendency towards a lack of discrimination when fighting. After all I never intended to kill all those house-elves. I regret it now, even if only mildly, but at the time I just didn't care.

Hell I likely would have at least tried to capture Nymphadora if only for experimenting on.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

It's funny how sex is turning into work. It hasn't yet, but I can see the signs. And one of them was the Luna's creation of the Hidden Snow Village.

Luna, armed with yet another variation of Hermione's Point Me spell, managed to track down all the yuki-onna in this dimension. And using the mind-healer techniques reprogrammed them more thoroughly then ever.

The nearly thirty yuki-onna are now fanatically loyal to me. It was like she combined the most extreme parts of a dedicated bodyguard, patriotic soldier and zealous priest. Predictably, my house-elves all loved them.

The crazy part is how the yuki-onna have adapted to the programming. They took the few historical records of them, the more recent accounts and for some reason the Naruto manga and created what they think is their actual history.

It was insane. You can't just make up your own past! Except apparently you can. At least if everyone just decides to buy into the same delusion. Personally I blame Luna.

Historically wizards had often posed as gods to primitive people. Wizards like to create new races. Some wizards, like Merlin, really were god-like in ability. Japanese mythology often depicts specific races of yokai as servants of particular deities.

Somehow they took those facts, and the Naruto manga, and decided they were former divine servants. And that I was their new lord. The fact that I could sleep with them without dying was taken as 'proof'. It probably didn't help that Luna had introduced them to the Saiyans, the race I had created for Ginny.

I still don't understand why they named them that. Sure they grew tails, but they were striped! They were clearly tiger tails and not a monkeys. Besides they also have two small horns on their forehead. If I had to pick something I'd lean more towards something like Faunus.

Regardless of the name, the obviously new species was taken as more evidence. And that was the 'history' they were already recording in their new archive.

At least they aren't likely to turn on me later?

Loyalty isn't really the issue. Numbers are. The yuki-onna decided they were far too few to properly serve me. Especially since they were my personal race and Ginny already has over fifty saiyans being raised.

Which is how every single one of them ended up having a baby. Twenty plus kids, all being raised together creche style. And eventually being taught and trained as a 'class' at their academy.

The thing is, they came up with a terrifyingly effective idea, that I can't bring myself to ignore. The beautification potion has an effect on everyone who sees it. Not only making people admire the user, but loath to harm them as if defacing a masterpiece.

With Hermione's aid, Luna created a version of the potion for the yuki-onna to use in combat. It still enhances their looks, but it's a cold, aloof, almost impersonal beauty. Closer to a sunset than a porn star.

And like a magnificent view it causes viewers to pause in admiration. In battle it looks a lot like being frozen in fear or shock. Lured by the thought of admittedly animesque image of a small force of beautiful women rampaging unchecked through an army I ended up helping. After all the only uncommon ingredient was unicorn hair and I have two herds as well as a rapidly village populated only with women.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Cornelius Fudge slumped behind his desk and considered retiring. Bow out with grace and dignity while he still could. He had never considered himself particularly brave. In fact he still wasn't sure how he had ended up running for minister the first time.

Not that Cornelius regretted it. It wasn't long before he developed a taste for the finer things in life. Things he was never able to afford or experience before. Food, wine, secretaries.

So what if he had to do a few favors for his new friends? The war was over and no one wanted to keep fighting. Besides, Malfoy had a son by that point. He had even sworn an oath that he was out now that Voldemort was gone.

He had proved his dedication to peace as well. Convincing his friends to throw their support behind the weakened ministry. Then by pouring his time and gold into restoring it from the shambles the war had left it.

Cornelius can admit, to himself at least, that power had gone a little to his head. Even the idea that Voldemort had returned and he was about to lose his security had been offensive. If anything what Dumbledore had done just proved him right.

Summoning a demon? That's old magic. Dark and forbidden. Some leader of the light he turned out to be. Lucius had been right. Dumbledore had tried to use scare tactics and when he proved too smart, became desperate.

Cornelius was very grateful for Lucius. Not only had he been of immense help, but more importantly he had presented himself as a much more tempting target to Dumbledore. The destruction of Malfoy Manor proved that.

The death of Madam Umbridge and the destruction of the Department of Mysteries also made sense. Obviously Umbridge's removal, like the Malfoys was intended to isolate him. Leave him without anyone to turn to for advice besides Dumbledore.

The Unspeakables were just in the way. While Cornelius didn't know exactly what they did down there, no one did, he did know they researched obscure magic. They were just the kind of people to know how to fight a demon.

The death of Harriet Potter was likely just another victim. He even feels a bit sorry for her. First confundoed by Black, then Dumbledore, only to die when Dumbledore tried to cover up his tracks. It was a tragic end.

The problem now was Dumbledore had died and that think was still out there. How many targets does it still have? Dumbledore always seemed to like writing things down, making lists.

Was his on there? Maybe with little note for if he doesn't call for help? Something impossible now that he's dead. How long does he have?

More importantly was another question. Did Dumbledore write it as the minister or use his actual name? Cornelius would gladly retire right now, but he didn't feel safe without the large auror guard he had constantly protecting him.

Then there was the report. Something had gone through the veil and even dragged off everything the entire Department of Mysteries. Maybe that was the demon going home?

Paralyzed in indecision, Cornelius sat and fretted alone in the dark.


	16. Idle Hands

Chapter 16 Idle Hands

Over the years I've received had a lot of experience with oral stimulation. I had three lovely ladies who every morning, seemed to delight in using me as a replacement for coffee. They also occasionally swung by for a pick me up.

Then there was the yuki-onna who, in order to become better servants, studied how my wives pleasured me. And while I needed to have sex with them in order to increase their numbers, they always insisted on following the example set by my girls. Not to mention the currael, who had literally lived for them.

I can even identify them. From Hermione's clinically precise method, Luna's playfulness and Ginny's passionate enthusiasm. The races are even distinct. Yuki-onna are cool, not to the point of being uncomfortable, but obviously not human. And currael hve mouths that are hot and soft and shift internally that are just as inhuman as the yuki-onna.

So when I woke up one morning I expected the velvet soft warmth that enveloped me. What I did not expect was that I couldn't recognize it. At all.

Which actually raised the question of just who was currently giving me a blowjob. I want to keep laying there and just enjoy it, but the question keeps distracting me. Curiosity eventually forces me to open my eyes.

Huh. Is that... Harry?

No.

Not Harry. Harriet. Harry has way too many male implications for me to be comfortable right now.

I'm not sure how to feel. Being half-awake and getting a blowjob, even if it is a bit clumsy, doesn't help. My gender-flipped, alternative dimensional self is currently doing her best to pleasure me. Does this count as incest? Masturbation?

I'm fairly certain Luna is to blame for this and sure enough she leans into view and grins at me. Then she leans back to whispering instructions in Harriet's ear while slowly fingering her. If I was reluctant before, I wasn't anymore. One of my strongest kinks was watching my girls play with each other. Something they often took advantage of.

Just like Luna was doing now.

Watching Harriet try to keep sucking while going through multiple orgasms was more than enough to trigger my own. I can't help but shiver as she does her best to drain me. She started off slow, but she sure improved quickly.

This was a better start to the day than I anticipated.

I'm still curious though and give a look at Luna. The wide, proud grin she gives me back worry's me a bit.

It just get's worse when she starts speaking. "So I'm sure you noticed Harry...et's crush on you. Well it had been getting worse. And who could blame her! Seeing you constantly satisfying women over and over again."

Hearing Harriet give a gasp I'm fairly certain if I raise my head a bit more I'll be able to see Luna's busy hands. I resist while blessing Luna's perceptiveness. I was never more glad for it than now. And that last part is more Hermione's fault than mine. Her and her use of handjobs as stress relief. Maybe a little bit mine for not being able to say no to her, but mostly hers.

"So I used the monitoring system to keep track of her and noticed Harriet would often touch herself when she was alone. And sometimes moan your name."

Really Luna? The playback ability from the Room was supposed to be for dealing with crimes and other serious matters. Not spy on a girl's alone time.

I sigh. Trying to explain that won't help. Luna never did see the world the way the rest of us did. Which is normally good.

"So since Harriet obviously wants to join us I decided to help!" This was because your version here made up with her dad isn't it?

I listen in a mixture of fascination and horror as Luna cheerfully explains how she used legilimency to find out what turned Harriet on. How she placed a spying charm and linked it to a dream ward to give her very erotic and realistic wet dreams.

Which explains Luna's recent spate of bedroom requests.

Then she had the house-elves spy on Harriet until she could catch her spying on me having sex. How she silenced and tied her up. Then, while whispering in her ear, used her hands to pleasured her until she passed out.

"And then I dragged her to your bed, woke her up and told her to suck on you!" Luna cheerfully and proudly finished. She sounds way too happy about how she very aggressively seduced Harriet on my behalf.

I'm not sure how to feel. Should I be flattered at how much effort she put into it? Ignore it since Luna had done worse? Worried Luna still thinks I need more sex?

Which is when she had invited me to see her latest project.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Arjun was often told by his parents that he was named after the hero of legend. Despite his families low caste he often dreamed of a better life. When the letter had arrived inviting him to a mysterious school he had accepted without hesitation.

Upanishads School of Witchcraft and Wizardry had been amazing in how it introduced him to magic. It had also been disappointing how how the school were still divided by caste. As such his school years were frustrating for the bright, ambitious student.

Graduating was worse. He was forced to conceal his magic, meaning he couldn't use it to benefit his family. He also couldn't find any decent jobs since the higher castes got first pick. Eventually he was forced to move away from the city and out to the country where his grandparents lived.

Over the years Arjun had never broken. Even in his village he still had his dreams. So when yet another mysterious letter arrived with an offer, once again he a took a chance.

When he finally heard the offer Arjun had thought it a hoax. Really, who had ever heard of someone attempting to create their own caste? And one modeled after the ancient Rajputs too? The ones today were soft fools, obsessed with bloodlines and racial purity. India hadn't had a true warrior caste in centuries.

Still, even if the person behind the offer was insane, the offer was solid. Gold, training and supplies. Even if it failed, he'd end up better off than before.

Two months later he was no longer doubted. Lord Hadrian Peverell and his wife, the Lady Luna Black, obviously possessed wealth beyond the richest Brahmins. And they were completely serious about their goal.

They had started a school. Not a small one either. India had an enormous population. Even still, Arjun had trouble believing they had found so many willing to join them. There must be a thousand students.

The Rajput Academy. A place that taught them how the new society would function and behave. It was harsh, demanding and just what Arjun had been wanting all his life. A place where ability mattered more than your name or parents.

Arjun didn't understand those who kept arguing and ended up expelled. It wasn't like their employers were unreasonable. Everyone was allowed to voice suggestions and sometimes committees were even formed to help rewrite the rules. Who wouldn't want the chance to become part of such an amazing future?

Arjun in particular loved his uniform. The main piece was a very large trench coat. It was form fitting and extended down to his ankles. The bottom portion was pleated, but since the front overlapped didn't leave a gap. It had a collar and stiff, collapsible hood. The sleeves were loose and the shoulders and chest were reinforced with strips of material riveted in place.

Gloves, heavy boots and what someone had called a plague doctor mask finished the uniform. Despite how restrictive and confining it looked, it was so heavily enchanted he barely noticed it. Still, the mask in particular had taken some getting used to.

Not that he was going to complain about it. The material was some kind of heavy cloth woven from snallygaster feathers and dementor hair. Which didn't even sound possible, except he's seen the workshops. It could stop a round from a light cannon and even the killing curse, which made it invaluable.

More than anything, the uniform reassured him. Regardless of what the future held, he knew his survival was valued. And that was enough for now.

Arhun was top of his class, but fortune is fickle. Now that he had this chance he fully intended to be wildly successful, marry and retire to raise his children to follow in his footsteps.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Watching the thousand new wizard recruits diligently training was impressive. Especially since Luna had managed to set all this up without me noticing. Although I'm fairly certain she had help from at least Hermione. After all converting a dozen habitats is pretty hard to hide.

Evidently Luna felt that one village wasn't enough. And since I had planned on eventually creating my own population of wizards she decided to get a head start. Of course I hadn't actually tried before because wizards are dangerous due to their versatility and unpredictability. Except Luna had found a way around that.

Luna had made good use the things we stole from the Department of Mysteries. One of the areas they had studied was family magics. And in some cases they had managed to replicate it. In particular they managed to recreate the tapestries, rings and grimoires so prized by the ancient pureblood houses.

Only for the same pureblood families to promptly make their creation illegal. They likely wanted to preserve the advantages of those items for themselves. They allowed a limited release, allowing them to restore or replace preexisting items. Which was a blatant attempt at controlling who was able to have them.

The department refused. One of the things not well known about the department is that it recruits heavily from muggleborns. The issue became decisive, almost tearing the department apart.

The muggleborn refused to restrict it. If anyone benefited from it, they'd consider the work no longer restricted to the department and thus no longer secret. Then they'd release it to the public. In the end the department buried all the research. Eventually it had been forgotten about.

Until now. Reading the notes and accounts was a fascinating look at how the researchers thought.

Luna had combined family magics, tapestries and blood quills to create her own book of names. Every student had essentially signed a contract that bound them and their descendants magically. Every child one of them had would have their name automatically appear in the book and likewise be bound.

The contract was actually an extension of her work with mind magics and were sort of like behavior guidelines. Paired with societal pressure and future generations should theoretically be as perfectly loyal as the other races she's adjusted. At least after a generation or two.

Personally I'd have preferred if she started off smaller. Except I don't really have room to talk after creating Yggdrasil.

Still I can't fault her plans. Luna had prepared contingencies for just about everything. Up to and including all of them being possessed and attempting to overthrow us.

Reading through Luna's plans is fascinating. Just the contingencies alone would make you think her paranoid. And the rest was an awe inspiring attempt at large scale social engineering.

The new Rajputs are going to be a military themed meritocracy. This first generation will be focused almost entirely on skills, providing the infrastructure for their families. They will in turn raise the next generation as the warriors craftsman who will eventually replace them. In many ways it reminded me of the goblins.

Luna had laid out plans for guilds, clans and other groups. All forming under her guiding hand. All designed to channel personalities along specific lines. To shape the mindset of the mages. And yes, mages, since saying witches and wizards is annoying.

There was an entire time table. The school won't just teach battle magic. Runes, potions, use of muggle weapons. Everything that can support them in combat. She even had future plans to start teaching spellforging, now that we know it's possible.

I only make a few changes. In particular I want them to learn mistwalking. Mages were already versatile. It made sense to have them be mobile as well. Not to mention how impressive it would look.

After all that was the idea behind the uniform I designed. And that she was using. Essentially the death dealer's coat along with a few extras to make it a complete outfit, it was meant to be intimidating.

Luna already agreed with the idea since she had the students training with staves. In some ways they were a symbol. That the mages had no need to be discrete. To hide. And then there are the practical aspects of it.

Staves were much more powerful and in some cases more versatile than a wand. They amplified the user's magic and negated the need for wand movements. They even made silent casting easier.

Eventually she wants wands to be seen as a delicate specialized tool. Something spell researchers and healers use. Not something the common mage uses. It helps that staves are much easier to craft and so will be much cheaper.

The only other change I make is to have them learn small squad tactics and other types of combat. Originally I had an idea of mages as generals, but it won't work with the group Luna's creating. Instead they'll serve as elite troops and special forces.

And maybe in a generation or two I can use retired or crippled warriors can serve as generals? Not all of them will be willing or even fit so two secondary schools then. One for officer training and the other as vehicle pilots.

No! Mech pilots! I can go full space marine and recreate dreadoughts with sarcophaguses. Life support will be tricky, so skip it. Turn them into a vampire and give them an IV blood drip. And definitely a calming elixir so they don't go insane. Call them something like ancestral guardians and every family will want one.

The more I consider Luna's plan the more I like it. She really outdid herself with them.

Even the students who refused to go along were also made use of. She wiped them completely and then shuffled them into the projects I already had training mages to use as eventual contruct imprints.

Impressed and touched at how far she went, I rolled my eyes at her pleading expression and forgave her for this morning. Not that I was ever actually upset. All I was feeling now was fond exasperation. Luna really doesn't understand the word restraint, does she?

Besides, I already want to see how effective these techniques are on all the other races we've been gathering.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Luna wasn't the only one to make use of the things from the Department of Mysteries. And while Hermione had dived into the time research, it was Ginny who next came up with an application for what they had.

What she discovered was that the department had an entire library on the subject of blood magic. Among them were far better rituals than the ones I found at Hogwarts. At least more efficient, only needing a vial of fresh blood instead of an entire sacrifice.

Even if Michael Corvin fails to pass on his genetic quirk to any of his eventual thousands of offspring, I'll have enough of his blood stored to last me decades. Blood Replenishing potions are amazing things.

Sadly I had to keep my new project away from Singe since I wanted him concentrating on working solely with the virus for now. I didn't want to distract him with the additional possibilities that magic adds. At least not yet.

Grabbing a bunch of criminals was easy enough. All I had to do was bribe an official and they willingly sold me as many as I wanted. I even considered it as contributing to society, making productive use of criminals.

The werewolf curse is purely magical in origin. It also doesn't affect your DNA. Which gave me the idea for improving the wargs enough to keep them around. After all Luna was still insisting on keeping them, despite my not having a use for them.

Which, now that I think about it, may be part of why she keeps setting up new military groups. I can hardly begrudge the room for a few packs of wolves if their numbers are hardly noticeable. Damn. Even after all this time Luna's unorthodox solutions still stun me.

So I went ahead and attempted to improve the wargs. Not an easy feat. Thankfully wolves grow much faster than humans. And despite their human levels of intelligence wargs age like normal wolves. And with time turners it only took months to raise the next batch of test subjects.

The problem came from the fact that wargs aren't human. They can't get the same diseases. At least not reliably. Which meant I had to infect the parents before forcing them to mate in wolf form. I go through quite a few criminals before succeeding.

I called the new race Fenris wolves. Wargs carrying their own unique strain of the Corvinus virus. Unique because it seems to have been modified by remnants of the werewolf curse. That combination also meant the new strain wasn't infection, which was a mixed blessing. At least their offspring still inherit it.

Fenris wolves resemble normal timber wolves, but in addition to their intelligence they have the ability to grow to the size of a bus. The growth provides super strength, speed, durability and regeneration. It also provides magic resistance equivalent to a dragon.

The downside is that seeing them inspired both Ginny and Luna to go ahead and infect themselves with the lycan hybrid strain. Ginny because she loved the idea of a giant monster form. Luna simply because she loved dogs and wanted to turn into one. And being giant meant she can wrestle with the fenris wolves.

At least Hermione is waiting with me to see what else is possible.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Gerald smiled as he listened to the yells of his two kids as they ran around. The contract had been the best damn thing that happened to him. Other than his wife of course. He took a quick glance around to make sure she wasn't nearby. Sometimes he could swear she knew legilimency.

He had been less than a year into his contract when he discovered his talent at runes. After he had created a few new tablets of his own he had been invited to switch to a new contract. It was longer, but in every other way an improvement. He had only asked for one thing to be added and they had agreed.

Less than a week later and his family moved in with him.

Now he was in charge of the team working on the runic knights as everyone calls them. The concept was simple. Take a wooden mannequin. Animate it. Done.

Except there were hundreds of additional factors involved. They didn't just animate it. They imprinted a portrait personality somehow and that directed the construct. And they didn't use a normal mannequin.

No theirs was seven feet high and internally resembling a clockwork engine. Which thank Merlin was only a resemblance. Part of his studied had been building and working on actual clockwork machines and he still had nightmares about the tiny perfect gears.

Altering the configuration of gears though alters it's balance, speed and strength. So constant testing and adjustments were required. And then consult the armor team to make sure it's movements are optimized for it's restrictions. Maybe try to adjust both.

It didn't help the armor had a thematic design they had to stick too. Everything internal could be changed, but not the way the armor looked. Lord Hadrian had called it daedric armor once. Unfortunately that term wasn't in the library anywhere.

To make it worse, both the armor and construct had to have room for internal weapon systems. At least for those they had metal blocks in the shapes they needed to keep in mind. Unfortunately they were also black boxes, which meant they had absolutely no leeway in altering them to fit better.

Still the last prototype had performed remarkably well. It was freely able to use the odd martial art style the imprint came with and for once didn't require repairs afterwards. A few more rounds of development and they might finally finish the project.

Then would come lots of stress testing, but that wasn't his problem unless they found an issue. And in the meantime he would essentially be on paid vacation. When the project closes though he'd have to make a choice.

His contract only lasted until the project was done. Afterwards he could sign up for another project, go back to domestic staff training, or leave. No way was he going back to training. That was right out.

The few projects Gerald knew were on the list though were all short though. Simple versions of muggle vehicles. A clunky larger version of the runic knights named after a ship for some reason. Automating a few primitive machines. And while the money would be nice, what then?

Thinking about it, Gerald supposes he doesn't really need to work. Between the bonuses and his pay and how cheap everything here was he probably wouldn't need to work for years. Besides, he doubts his family will let him leave.

In many ways his family had adapted better than he had. His wife, Grace, has a job that pays nearly as much as his. Hell, she often takes his token and goes off to barter with the aracumantula. She didn't even tell him the first time!

The kids too, were happy. They had made a few friends. More importantly they loved not having to worry about hiding their magic. Going back would make them miserable.

Gerald's problem was mainly how peculiar so many things were. Things like the nursery where his wife works. There was a steady trickle of babies appearing there and no parents. He doubts they're stolen, not with just how many are metamorphmaguses and the rest resembling each other. The mystery of it just makes his brain itch.

The nursery is clearly very important since Lady Peverell is involved. Grace often mentions her visiting along with her own daughter to check on things. And if the rumors are true they're going to be building a school nearby.

Another thing was the Indians. They were clearly military, his work on mechanical soldiers made him very familiar with how they move. And there were a lot of them, all attending some military school. So why were they coming here?

Yet another thing was the wolves. And they were clearly wolves, not dogs. And not werewolves either, despite being able to talk. They just started wandered around and no one seems to care. Not even when it became obvious they drink blood.

Hell, even most of his own work was suspicious. Most of the projects, including the runic knights, are all designed for open warfare. It was like Lord Hadrian was preparing to invade another country.

Hearing his kids laughing broke his train of thought. Gerald just sighed. He supposes his choice had already been made, he was just wasting time.

He'll talk to Lady Peverell in the morning about how he can help.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Annette wasn't surprised by the offer. In fact she felt vindicated. She had long ago realized the purpose of the training program. Whoever was behind it was looking for the very best in servants and was willing to waste enormous amounts of money training so many, just to find them.

So when the entertainment systems had been provided, she looked for a hidden meaning. And right away noticed that one type of game in particular seemed to be more common. Shooting games.

There had long been workshops opened to them to use for a weekend for only a token. They offered training seminars in a particular skill and many of them had used it to try and learn skills they can actually get jobs with later.

Dunderheads. The best opportunity was right here in front of them. They just had to realize it. Not that she let anyone know. The fewer people she had to compete against the better her chances.

Annette started spending all of her tokens at the gun range. Now that she thought about it, it was one of the few workshops that hadn't fit in. They didn't learn a craft or trade there. Instead they learned how to shoot. And there were a few workshops like that. Devoted to different types of weapons and even one for a martial art called aikido. She took them all.

Annette knew what she wanted. If she was right the family or families behind this program were looking for particular individuals who stood out. She knew what she wanted. A bodyguard and personal servant. Someone who will eventually be regarded as a loyal and trusted friend. Someone who is kept close and taken care of when retired.

She had studied her history. The pureblood families all operated as in a manner similar to feudal and victorian eras. She was just surprised there hadn't been a system like this in place before now.

The offer had placed her along with only a handful of others in something that felt like a military training program. They studied a number of weapons, but in particular focused on aikido and accuracy with firearms. Naturally, with her headstart, she excelled.

The offer of employment was expected. What came after was not.

Annette had been slightly off. Four others had also been hired, one of them male. She had also been surprised by the rituals used on them. Blood magic was considered highly illegal. Which was a bit worrying. And then they received their schedules.

There new schedules weren't terribly different from before. If anything they were far easier. A mere four hours of training a day and two weekend sessions a month.

The sessions was always odd too. They would work at a fancy restaurant or cater a party or something else domestic the first weekend. It would always be in a different country too.

At this point Annette wasn't still certain that their employers were British. Although they were likely European. After all, no matter where they went, they always used the same uniforms. A stylish butler suit and a french maid apron dress. Which is good since she wasn't sure how well she'd do in a sari or kimono.

The second weekend was always a war game. Almost always an urban setting, although It could change from medieval to futuristic. Although from what she's seen it wasn't exactly normal.

They'd always start off the same, armed with microguns. It was a very good starting weapon. While it only fired a 5.56mm bullet, it fired over 10,000 of them per minute. An amazing amount of firepower. And between the enchantments and the rituals very easy to carry and use.

Then they'd be given a number of tasks. Clear out a building. Sweep a village. Or even just defend a location.

The problem was they were still expected to maintain proper posture and move elegantly. What kind of crazy training was this? Who had time to be graceful when trying to not die?

Sure, she can see the appeal. Their employer clearly cares way too much about appearances. Watching a replay of a war game, Annette admits to herself, they do look impressive. Casually walking and elegantly dodging while killing everything in sight.

If only it wasn't so much work!

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

We don't completely vanish from the wizarding world. After all the prophecy still hangs over my head. Well Harriet's, but it wasn't like I could leave her. I did try to argue at first since she was only fifteen. Hermione's sarcastically pointing out how young we had been killed that.

It hadn't taken long for me to fall for her. We just seemed to click. Logically it even made a kind of sense.

We shared a remarkably similar background. Well at least one of my childhoods did. Of course, that was the one that seemed to have most heavily influenced my emotions. Which meant that she could intuitively read my moods.

Her background also meant that she wasn't used to prolonged physical contact. Rather than becoming clingy, she didn't even like to cuddle after sex.

So we kept a loose eye on the wizarding world. After all Voldemort had hid in Albania the first time. Who knows where he'll pop up next?

Not that news was reliable. And we couldn't really be bothered to form and maintain a spy network. Thankfully we didn't need too.

Harriet's scar still was a horcrus. Which meant with some training in the mind arts she could keep tabs on Voldemort. And with the things we stole from the Department of Mysteries it didn't take us long to create a soul tracker.

Recalling his death eaters seems to have sparked a frenzy of fanaticism among his remaining followers. Sometimes it seemed like Voldemort was being resurrected again every few months. And every time her scar flared, Harriet would dive into Voldemort's mind. Once we confirmed he had found allies or worse had returned, we moved in.

I wasn't about to risk anyone. Besides the muggles had developed the perfect method for dealing with terrorists. One large guided bomb later and it was over. We didn't even have to be nearby.

A cruise missile was beyond our capabilities to technologically support. But not magically. Just take a missile, add fuel conjuration runes, a few animation charms and an imprint from a aircraft pilot and done.

After all the Fidelius spell doesn't remove locations from the world. Instead it alters the perceptions of the entire world to hide it. Except a bomb doesn't really care if it can see the target. It just needs to land close enough.

Some triangulation with the soul detector and we can always find Voldemort. Sure we can't see the exact area he's in. But destroying everything works just as well. If the death eaters had burned down the entire Grimmauld Place complex, number 12 would have been destroyed as a side effect.

Wizards really are idiots.

The side effect of us regularly launching what amounted to stealth cruise missiles, since of course we disillusioned and silenced them, at random places was a dramatic rise in world tension.

People became paranoid about secret weapons projects. Especially so soon after the end of the Cold War.

We stayed though, partly because we all had long term projects to worry about now. But mainly because I wanted to get ahold of more advanced technology. Especially video games.

Sadly it doesn't quite work. Less than a decade after being summoned Harriet's scar breaks open and black tar oozes out. It didn't even scream. Which was unfortunate since it would have woken us up.

Instead we slept peacefully on, even when the summoning rift appeared.


	17. First Impressions

Chapter 17 First Impressions (minor edit)

Waking by landing on a cold stone floor was not the way I preferred. And since I was also alone, it was pretty much the exact opposite. Not to mention what looks like the remains of a table around me.

"Blood hell Ginny, I think you gave me a concussion." After all, who else would it have been? Hermione preferred a gentle touch. Harriet disliked unnecessary violence, especially when intimate. Luna was far too passive and submissive. Only Ginny would have jumped me so aggressively.

"Master Hadrian! You're safe!" That... wasn't Ginny. Did she hospitalize me? Which elf was that anyway?

I glance over and see the marker on my HUD. "Dobbins?" Huh. I'm in my armor. I doubt I'd need it during sex, no matter how rough.

Why am I in my armor?

Were we attacked? Is everyone alright? It's really looking like sex isn't the answer anymore.

I quickly scan my surroundings and realize I'd probably been summoned. After all how else would I end up in the Great Hall at Hogwarts... with the corpse of Mad-eye Moody laying a few feet away? What in Merlin's name is going on?

I let my armor float me up. For some reason my muscles are incredibly sore right now. In fact I seem to ache all over.

I'm also alone. Did Moody summon me by myself? The other two rituals required an entire group to use. Maybe the strain killed him? He looks peaceful. Like he's sleeping ff you ignore the blood. And the hole burned through him.

Looks like he triggered my self-defense system. Damn, Hermione is never going to let me live that down.

I shake my head. No point taking chances. "Escort Protocol." I relax a bit as the house-elves appear around me. "Dobbins, contact the others and let them know we've likely been summoned. Wake them up if you need to. Oh, and turn on the Comm Net."

The Comm Net was the work of Hermione. It essentially linked a series of communication mirrors to my HUD. Direct, unbreakable lines of instant communication. The girls could also use it to tap into my own sensors, which had been significantly upgraded.

Seeing a portrait moving I figure it won't be long before I'm not alone. And Dumbledore doesn't disappoint. Even if he does in just about every other possible way imaginable.

A burst of fire signals the arrival of a singing Fawkes. Who is carrying... Dumbledore? At least he looks like Dumbledore. It's an old wizard with a large beard, silver hair and blue eyes behind half moon spectacles. Maybe a few less wrinkles, but still very close. He even had the crooked nose.

It was his outfit that was making it hard to believe it was him. And from the comments my girls were making they were having the same problem.

He was wearing a large purple cloak, which could be dignified. If it wasn't hanging off only one shoulder and laced with gold thread that made it shimmer. He was wearing velvet boots with pointed toes and high heels. Which were also bright orange.

Almost covering the boots and under the cloak was a robe. If you could call it that. Splotched and patched, but in a deliberate manner to show it was on purpose. And every color of the rainbow. Like something Luna would design while on acid. Well fanon Luna. Mine was thankfully not nearly that chaotic.

Honestly Dumbledore constituted a visual assault. His prancing steps and way too cheerful voice did not help. "Greetings traveler! Welcome to Hogwarts!"

Bloody. Hell.

Talk about differences. This one was extreme.

Although... I remember thinking the last two were dressed far more conservatively than I expected. Sadly it's been over a decade by this point, everything before my first appearance as Harry Potter is pretty hazy.

Did the books really have him so... flamboyant? Oh, he's speaking. I should probably pay attention. Thank god Hermione has logged on and can summarize for me.

He's apologizing for Moody? "Please think nothing of it. Minor issue"

"I am Albus Dumbledore, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock of the Wizgamont, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards and Headmaster of Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Might I know who you are?"

I don't need the advice from my wives to know how to handle this. "Emperor Hadrian Peverell." Ha! Take that Dumbledore. Grandiose and pompous while pretending to be simple and modest.

I ignore the comments from my wives, despite knowing I'll pay for it later. We're doing a whole one-upmanship thing here. They do the same, we're just not being as catty since we're guys. And I was very careful not to voice that last out loud.

I probably would have continued but my wives were getting louder and I already had a headache. Best to cut this short. "Why was I... invited?"

Dumbledore's reply made me think of a generic RPG quest prompt. 'Oh noble stranger. Only you can save everyone. Please help our whiny, helpless, demanding selves even though we refuse to provide so much as a free meal.'

Bastard. And from the comments, my wives agreed. Although they seemed to lean more towards pompous git.

Oh well. No point whining about it. Besides I've already benefited tremendously. Thankfully pointing out that thought grants me forgiveness.

Damn. Having all four of my wives whispering naughty suggestions is really distracting.

Screw it. I brush Dumbledore off. I'll talk to him later. Right now I need to go home so I can 'celebrate' arriving safely in a new dimension.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore stood confidently. After all his phoenix had brought him and would hardly do so if he was in danger. The hero they summoned was still inside his armor, but wobbled a touch when he appeared. No doubt disoriented. Best to present a friendly demeanor to calm him.

Good thing Dumbledore's specialty was friendly. "Greetings traveler! Welcome to Hogwarts!"

Hmm. Maybe he has a concussion? Well, no point letting an awkward silence stretch on.

"I apologize for your reception. When we first invited you some of us were understandably nervous and may have acted a might hastily. While I can understand your fears, perhaps you should moderate your response in the future? Moody was a fine man and it's a shame to have lost him."

The beings reply was unnerving. The voice was thoroughly inhuman, like the echoes coming from the Veil of Souls. It startled Dumbledore enough that he missed part of what was said. He heard enough to get the gist.

"Please, not an issue." That's not a good response. Was Moody right? Was the person not a hero? Or maybe a hero from a more savage place? Just where did he come from?

Fawkes bursting into song reminds him of his priorities. Interrogating someone at the first meeting is rude. First impressions are important.

Actually, what was his name? Probably I should introduce myself first. It's only polite. And it lets me show off how important I am without bragging. After all answering questions isn't bragging.

"Emperor Hadrian Peverell." How disappointing. He didn't ask about any of his titles. Everyone usually asks about them. Wait... emperor?

So he was from a less enlightened society. One that hasn't figured out that a subtle, gentle touch was the correct way to lead people.

"Why was I? Invited." That was an odd pause. Maybe it was just the voice. Dumbledore frowned briefly, hopefully that wasn't sarcasm. He always hated that. He much preferred when people were honest with him.

And he used the word invited! Obviously he couldn't be too mad. And he'll forgive him once he hears the reason. After all Dumbledore had acted for only the best of reasons. And as a fellow ruler he would understand the importance of preserving lives.

Now. How to present this? It needs to convey the seriousness of the situation. First impressions were important after all. Even second hand ones. Maybe especially those.

"Our world is beset by a gathering darkness. It seeks nothing less than the total destruction of the world. It is led by one who stylized himself the Dark Lord Voldemort. As the Champion of the Light it is your duty to vanquish him."

There. That last part should throw him off enough that he'll be open to a few helpful suggestions. After all he doesn't know anything about this world.

"Sure." And with that he flew off. Ah, the impetuousness of youth. Still such eager acceptance is reassuring. No need to guilt him into acting. And he'll likely return once he realizes he needs help.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

To my disappointment the girls want to explore the new world more than have sex. Which I can understand. I should be as well. Normally I'd be leading the charge to discover new things. Right now I'm a little afraid to do so.

I think Dumbledore broke my sense of adventure.

Unfortunately my girls were still determined to explore. And I can hardly let them do so alone. It didn't take long to once more take over the Room of Requirement. Setting it up as my base and of course, having the portraits compare lessons, books and notes.

I'm particularly interested in the differences since the last dimension didn't have mistwalking or the werewolf inflicting curse. Something my second universe did. Sadly I'm not certain the first one didn't since I never made it to Hogwarts.

It was nice of Voldemort to store his diadem in the Room. It allows me to dump his memories into my own Room of Requirement and contrast the sets of memories.

Alas, it doesn't take much to confirm the absence of either mistwalking and the Corvinus virus. It seems they really were unique to those dimensions. Well, at least as far as this one goes.

That there will be other differences I have no doubt. Not only did Dumbledore look vastly different, we ran into some kind of shape-shifting ghoul. It had disguised itself as a suit of armor, just like the Mimics in games.

It wasn't very intelligent, being only around a human preschooler. Which didn't matter so much since it was by far the most talented shape-shifter I've come across so far. The possibilities were inspiring and I spend several ours collecting the dozens of chameleon ghouls that were currently inhabiting Hogwarts.

Dumbledore actually tried to stop me. Saying that there was no need to bother myself with such minor nuisances, since a student only occasionally died from their attacks.

When I found out the house-elves actually have orders to feed them I punched him. Just what kind of school was Dumbledore running? With the eager help of the house-elves I soon found out.

This Hogwart's is a death trap. And Dumbledore did it deliberately. His reasoning is almost sound, until you realize he completely ignores the fact that he's dealing with children!

Chameleon ghouls in the hallways to teach awareness. Sure they're vulnerable to magic, but that doesn't help when they can ambush you inside the school. And without training, even adults tend to panic when attacked! You don't kill students who forget to follow directions or decide to wander around after curfew!

Just like you don't kill students who sneak into a broom closet by filling them with doxies. And while the greenhouses and gardens are important and expensive, erlkings EAT children!

Redcaps, aracumantula, limax and dozen more dangerous species were in the woods. This dimension's Forbidden Forest really lives up to it's name. I'm honestly surprised there were any centaurs or unicorns left. There were even extinct species such as mountain trolls!

It was even worse when you realize Hagrid had a much freer hand in this dimension. Species like imperial dragonflies and flitterbies had been all altered in some manner. Improved in a way that made them actually dangerous.

Hagrid doesn't even have a dog in this dimension. His pet, still called fang, was some kind of snapping turtle dugbog hybrid. I don't even see why he keeps the six foot creature around since it isn't fast enough to keep up with him.

This dimension was insane!

This isn't Hogwarts. It's some kind of horrific fun house version of it.

Maybe that was what was different about this universe?

Although at least this dimension has an excuse for why no one cared when Dumbledore threatened anyone who entered the third floor corridor with death. It was just another thing to add to the long list of dangers.

Except Dumbledore never did that here. Or should I say hasn't done that yet. Because Harry Potter hadn't entered Hogwarts. He was in fact too young to enter. Way too young since he was currently only a two.

Using the Room and newspapers I was able to piece together a timeline. There didn't seem to be a prophecy. Dumbledore had used a summoning ritual to call me, although he wasn't dumb enough to bind me. Even if it restricted me, my wives would have killed him.

Without the prophecy the Potters and Longbottoms never went into hiding. Instead they kept on fighting. And the war had ground on. Which means it's basically a warzone out there. And since my ladies want to go exploring, I have work to do.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore winced as another stabbing pain came from his jaw. Looks like it was time for a new set of teeth. Old age really hadn't been kind to him. The punch hadn't helped any. This was his second set this year. At least it won't be getting any worse now that he finally has the Philosopher's Stone.

Curse Flamel for being so stubborn. Couldn't he see Dumbledore needed it far more than him? They should have been working together. And now it was too late. Why did Nicholas force him to betray him?

A soothing melody caused Dumbledore to close his eyes and take a deep breath. When he exhaled it was as is all the grief and tension went with it. "You're right Fawkes. There really isn't any point on dwelling on the faults of others. I have the stone now. I should be focusing on the good I'll be able to do with it."

Dumbledore popped a lemon drop from the special bag into his mouth and straitened up at the rush of energy. His usual cheerful grin spread across his face and he once more was able to stride confidently forward.

He really loved lemon drops. Dumbledore was ashamed to admit that once there was a time that wasn't true. He put with it though because it was the only candy he could infuse with a pepper-up potion that got rid of his obvious side effects.

After all he had an image to maintain. Everyone would be disappointed to see their beloved leader getting tired. Why they might even try to take away some of his responsibilities. Out of the caring no doubt, but it would still be the wrong choice.

Dumbledore had carefully selected his three positions. Headmaster let him influence everyone early. Getting them used to obeying him. And once they grew up they entered the ministry, a new frightening world. And who better to guide them than their beloved headmaster?

Mugwump was admittedly the least vital of his positions. However, it was also the easiest. Just a few meeting a year. And it allowed him to make contacts with experts from all around the world.

It also made it easier to keep anyone from trying to interfere with Britain. After all, Britain was his. No one else had the experience, wisdom and vision to lead them properly.

Truthfully they can't really handle the rest of the world either. After all wasn't the reason he was forced to step in and deal with Gellert? If they weren't all useless they would have stopped his friend far earlier.

It as one of the main reasons he had delayed entering the war for so long. His last memory of Gellert was bitter enough. He had no wish to add another to tarnish his image of his former lover.

Alas, it was not to be. Everyone else proved useless and in the end his fond memories were tarnished by the yet another duel. Just remembering the cowardly...

A burst of song from Fawkes calmed him down immediately. Dumbledore took a moment to sigh in regret. It seems Fawkes was always saving him from himself. He truly was a magnificent creature, always able to sense when he was feeling negative and bringing him out if it.

It was after the duel when Dumbledore had truly realized he was alone. He was the only one that possessed the vision and strength to preserve their world.

Only Fawkes' continued singing allowed to recall that fateful moment without weeping. When he had realized just how truly, utterly alone was was. How he wished he could be one of the sheep. But no. His was a greater burden. To be the shepherd.

And everyone else recognized that fact as well. How else could he have been risen to prominence so quickly? And for a time everything had gone perfectly. Society was healing and the sins of the past discarded for a brighter future.

Until Tom Riddle.

Even now Dumbledore felt like he failed young Tom. It had been too soon after the war and his duel. Unsettled already, he had lashed out much too harshly against the dark leaning student. His failure though taught him a valuable lesson.

Children must be guided with a gentle hand. Too many of those who turn dark suffer punishments and stern hands at home. Just like Tom. If only he had realized it sooner. So much suffering...

Another burst of soothing phoenix song.

As always Fawkes was right. There's no point in regrets. Tom's an enemy and would have to be dealt with. The problem was Tom, unlike Gellert, was a coward. Like a rat he gnawed at the edges of society, infecting it with his ideas and running away when caught.

Hence the summoning ritual.

Truly destiny smiles down on Dumbledore. After all how else can you explain Hogwarts mysteriously providing a book that held the answers he needed. A book in a room that doesn't exist.

The sole issue was the requirements. He had been forced to bring in most of his Order to fuel it. A few had objected to using it, but he had been able to bring them around. After all binding may just upset the hero. If he needed to limited, it would be far better to do so with more reasonable means.

The only problem was the hero appeared unconscious. Which would have been a minor setback if Alastor hadn't insisted on stunning him to 'make sure'. And now one of his oldest friends was gone. Struck down like you would a fly. And that voice...

Was Alastor right? Did he make a terrible mistake? Did he summon a monster? What will it do next?

A soothing melody washed away Dumbledore's growing panic.

No. The plan was still working. It just didn't summon a hero the kind of hero he thought would appear. Which raised new worries. If he was wrong about the ritual, what else has he been wrong about?

A soothing melody from Fawkes allowed Dumbledore to shake of his doubts.

No. It was clear now. Alastor just hadn't trusted him enough. And look what had happened. He died. Obviously it was the result of his unwillingness to trust.

In fact this might just be destiny working again. After all Alastor was always his harshest critic, always advocating the use of lethal spells. His death will make a very powerful argument on why he wished to preserve all life.

Even better Alastor's death can be used to reign in the hero. Remind him of the price for acting to hastily and without restraint.

A solid plan in mind, Dumbledore ate another lemon drop as he strode away. So much to fix and so little time.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

I didn't make any obvious moves right away. When visiting Diagon Alley I had gotten an idea. The people here are sheep. Content to live within tiny, isolated areas. The vast majority of them will likely spend their entire lives without ever even seeing more than a dozen places. And most of those will be the homes of friends.

Normally they'd scoff at the very idea of moving. But right now they're scurrying around and just hoping they aren't the next victim. Only their complacency and fear of the unknown is keeping them here. And maybe a touch of national pride.

Which means this is the perfect time to go recruiting.

It was much easier than I even imagined. My first step was easy. I approached Amelia Bones.

The last survivor of the Bones family besides her infant niece, Amelia was already an auror. Better she had a reputation for being strict and fair. And since her family were all killed by death eaters, no one will ever be able to bring themselves of suspecting her.

Amelia has a reputation for incorruptibility. But everyone has a price. It wasn't difficult to figure out hers. I don't think she realized it herself. At least not until I approached her. And once I offered it, she was mine.

A goblin authenticated contract using her seal made my offer appear genuine. It had that touch of familiarity that moving lacked. The idea that even if they were fleeing, they would still be home.

Also with her help I was able to copy the muggle-born registry.

I have no doubt Dumbledore's Order of the Phoenix received quite a bit more credit than they were due in the following weeks. It was easy enough to send out house-elves to monitor all the remaining homes. Then I just waited until an attack occurred and teleported a few of the higher scoring Rajput trainees in to drive off the death eaters.

Afterwards I approached each family with an offer. I offered them what sounded like witness protection. Anyone who accepted I took to Yggdrasil to become to start of my own wizarding Britain. If they refused I still took them.

The families that were the most stubborn I just completely mindwiped. They would be my way of influencing everyone else. Children are very impressionable. A few classmates dragged off to exotic vacations every year and returning with horror stories will do nicely to reinforce isolationist tendencies.

I was going to need that population. While the goblins portraits hadn't been able to teach me spellforging, they did reveal the secret behind the mass empowerment ritual to create my trunks. And while I didn't need any more trunks, mass animation rituals would allow me to exponentially increase the number of constructs I could create. Rather than a small elite force designed to be used a powerful tool I could go full Skynet if I wanted too!


	18. Coup

Chapter 18 Coup

Invading the Ministry of Magic was quite easy. Just walk in and check your wand in. They didn't even scan for a second wand. In fact they didn't have more than a single guard at the check-in station. A truly useless gesture for wartime.

I wish I could afford to secure the entire ministry. The problem was the sheer number of entrances that existed. Securing them all would take an army. Unfortunately mine wasn't ready yet.

Sadly most of the units I did have were simply too destructive to use. My forces were still evolving and my habit of endlessly prototyping in search of more efficient forces hadn't helped. A prime example were the trolls.

The trolls had been replaced entirely. The dreadnought mech project proved incredibly effective. While the Rajputs hadn't produced any crippled veterans, Lunas experiments with criminals was incredibly helpful. They were armed with flamethrowers, a heavy mortar and an anti-tank rocket launcher.

Ginny, in an over reaction to save her beloved new race, had crossbred them with a number of other species to try and improve them. It was an over reaction since I wasn't planning on killing them, just not using them for my army.

Still it worked out extremely well. Crossbreeding with a re'em was very successful and her new, aptly named minotaurs were incredibly strong. Seeing a twelve foot creature casually throwing around main battle tanks was impressive. A construct would have to be forty feet tall to do the same.

I did bring a dozen yuki-onna led by my daughter Lily. She had grown up to be such a devoted daughter. And way too martial for her mother. However I was mostly going to rely on house-elves for this operation.

Thankfully I had plenty of house-elves. During their time working for me, they had flourished. And between the past two dimensions, there had been more enough time to raise a second and even third generation. While not an army, they are more than enough for my plan.

It hadn't taken much to gain Amelia Bones cooperation. She was still grieving for the loss of her brother and his family. She had joined the aurors, but it wasn't difficult to tempt her into helping me for revenge.

Truthfully she didn't have to do much. With the Wizengamot meeting every week in their panic she just had to make sure the aurors stationed at one of the doors knew to let me in. As the head of the Bones family she was entitled to a guest.

I was a polite invader. I waited until Dumbledore, acting as Chief Warlock, asked if there was any new business. Then I made my move.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Amelia Bones wasn't prone to regrets, but she was feeling increasingly nervous as the Wizengamot meeting continued. She hadn't known what to expect when the armored figure approached her. Mostly she expected to die. Especially when she heard it's voice.

Hadrian Peverell.

Such a normal name. Well, maybe not normal since it had it's roots in some of their oldest legends. But human. Not something possessing that voice should be using. But it did. And if she possessed any doubts on it's less than normal nature, the offer it extended washed them away.

It felt like she was making a deal with a demon. However, aside from her niece, Amelia was the last of her family and more than anything she craved vengeance. And it was as current head of the Bones family that she accepted his offer.

For that is what he wanted. Like a vampire, it seems he needed to be invited in. Especially into a place as protected as the Wizengamot chambers.

He had made promises. Things like only punishing the guilty. Amelia truthfully didn't expect him to keep them. She found she didn't care.

It might not even matter truthfully. Voldemort was winning. Everyone knew that. He had infiltrated the ministry quite heavily and it was only a matter of time before he had everything. Even if Lord Peverell killed everyone she was certain most of the losses would still be Voldemort's.

Amelia sighed. Closing remarks and opening statements. So boring. Especially when they will likely be the last moments of her life. And possibly everyone's in Britain.

She had already made arrangements for her niece. Susan would be well protected and cared for. And most importantly, well away from what she was going to unleash.

Amelia admitted to herself that she might have lost her nerve at the last minute if it wasn't for where she was sitting. The Bones family seat. Where her two older brothers should have sat. Brothers who, like the rest of her family, were now dead.

No. When Dumbledore asked if anyone had any announcements, she didn't hesitate. "I wish to present Lord Hadrian Peverell."

As a murmur rose from the members at the unexpected announcement, Amelia closed her eyes. If she was very very lucky, she'll be able to see Susan after she opened the again.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Dumbledore was feeling quite positive as he opened the now weekly Wizengamot session. While the war was still far from over he now felt confident about the outcome.

Large numbers of death eater attacks had been recently been foiled. The papers all credited him with the victories, but he knew better. The attacks were repulsed too fast, too thoroughly. No, it had to be Hadrian.

And best of all it seemed his hero might not even need that much guidance. Each of the attacks were repulsed with minimal force and loss of life. It was an ingenious solution to then hide away the families that were attacked. Dumbledore wasn't sure how he was managing it. After all the scores of families had to be expensive, but he was glad it was being done.

Dumbledore held back a sigh as Madame Bones stood up. No doubt yet another appeal to allow her aurors to use lethal force. She was blinded by her grief over losing her family. Still she should know better. After having lose family members of her own surely she understood how inflicting that same pain on other families was wrong?

"I wish to present Lord Hadrian Peverell." What? Why was he here? Coming out into the open like this will just polarize the populace. Clearly he had been too generous in his estimation.

Wait...what was that? Yeild the floor? Dumbledore suddenly realized Hadrian was in his armor. He was gripped by a feeling of dread. The sudden appearance of more armed figures just confirmed how bad this was.

How dare he kill people in front of him! He should know better. This childish act of his was going too far! But if he wanted to act like a child, well then it was time he was disciplined. After all Dumbledore had been headmaster for decades. He knew how to get the attention of an unruly student.

Furious Dumbledore flicked out his wand. Impudent whelp. Like he hadn't seen all the oddly dressed house-elves. It was the first thing he checked after noticing Hadrian's presence. A casual wave of his wand protected him.

Dumbledore doesn't flinch. He's worked hard to suppress that reaction over the years. It was handy since it tended to awe his opponents and inspire his allies. Besides Fawkes would intercept any real danger to him.

A sudden stabbling pain distracted him. How? And then the world went white.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Amelia's introduction was perfect. Although the way she bowed her head and closed her eyes was a touch melodramatic. Maybe she just regrets how badly she's breaking the law? She always was kind of rigid. Letting me in to stage a coup might have broken her.

Oh well. It doesn't really matter. I'm in now and the chamber wards have already accepted my presence. Sure I can't use a wand still, but it wasn't like I care when I'm still in my armor.

I stand up. "Thank you. Thank you. Now I have an announcement to make of my own. Should anyone draw their wand, they will die. And if Dumbledore will yield the floor we can continue our meeting."

I stand there grinning wildly inside my armor. It's hard to take them even semi-seriously when I'm perfectly safe from them. That and the excitement was making me giddy.

With a snap of my fingers half the yuki-onna uncloaked. My girls wanted to be here, but I refused. Maybe now they'll actually get around to making real armor. After all they can hardly let their daughter show them up can they?

Inviting Lily might be my favorite part of this entire operation.

The sudden presence of armed forces, along with outrage at my statements prompted some to act. There was a long series of soft popping sounds and the squad of aurors in the chambers all died.

Huh. I half expected Amelia to have warned them.

Eh. The blood and fear will make it easier to keep them in line. I may not even have to kill anyone who isn't guilty.

Dumbledore, the arrogant idiot, flicks out his wand next. He can see the hundreds of disillusioned house-elves now filling the chamber. His shield blocks half the rounds and Fawkes flames in to stop a few more. That still leaves hundreds more to slam into him. Not to mention me.

I mistwalk as soon as Dumbledore shifted. By the time his wand was out I was hurtling towards him. My house-elves all know I can't be harmed by bullets when mistwalking so don't hold back. Even as he starts to shield I trigger the liquid nitrogen sprayer.

It turns out phoenixes need fire to use their abilities. Without fire Fawkes can't resurrect himself. A frozen solid phoenix chick falls the ground and shatters. Oops.

I take a moment to look around. Dumbledore's death seems to have cowed everyone and I now have control of the chamber. By Merlin are house-elves useful. Even if mine do look a bit ridiculous.

The girls had taken my idea for uniforms and gone crazy with them. Hermione, thankfully didn't seem to care so the ones I made stayed the same. Luna though, wanted Swiss guardsman, with their brightly striped uniforms and pole arms. Ginny and Harriet had joined in the fun and decided their elves would wear the british army uniforms. Well, the historic ones with red coats, white sash, and thigh-high black boots.

I figured why not make it useful and designed a different weapon for each uniform. An elf has to earn the uniforms by learning how to use the weapon first. For the swiss guard they wield a scaled down version of the original Dremora glasswalkers weapon. A four foot halberd that contains a .223 bolt action rifle. The red coats are armed with a 20-gauge shotgun, designed to resemble a musket, that fired SCMTR rounds.

Every house-elf gets a locket once they complete more than one training course. It has an undetectable extension charm on it for them to store their unused equipment and any other personal items. All of which means I have a bunch of brightly and randomly uniformed house-elves scattered across the chamber.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Maybe he really is a demon. Amelia couldn't get the thought out of her mind as the 'trials' continued.

Amelia snorted. Now there was a joke. Lord Peverell's idea of a trial was brutally efficient and trampled all over the rights of everyone in the Wizengamot. And she couldn't be more satisfied.

One by one every member of the Wizengamot was being dragged to the front of the chamber and made to swear an unbreakable vow. It was simple vow. I swear to answer all questions for the next hour honestly. I will not attempt to deliberately mislead anyone. I will not hold any information back.

That last part really upset a lot of members. The first who stood up to object being shot settled them down again. Idiots. Did they really forget how dangerous he is that quickly?

No hypocrite, Amelia had volunteered to go first. Her questioning was brief, but thorough. Are you a Death Eater? Have you supported Lord Voldemort or his followers in any way?

Lord Malfoy was called up next. When he drew his wand she fully expected to see his head explode. Instead Lord Peverell made a gesture and let him finish casting his spell. The killing curse slammed into his armor... and did nothing.

That was when her doubts had begun. Nothing in the wizarding world was immune to the killing curse. Even goblin armor wouldn't protect you. Well at least it didn't protect goblins.

The second armored figure had moved then. She sprayed him with the same liquid that had killed Dumbledore's phoenix before disarming him.

The fact that there were now two of them made her wonder how many Dumbledure summoned. Or was Lord Peverell summoning them on his own?

Lord Malfoy was then dragged to the front. Lord Peverell had picked up Dumbledore's wand, which had somehow survived, and used the Imperius curse on him. When he told to name every death eater and sympathizer not currently in the chamber everyone had been shocked.

Shock had turned into horror for most of the chamber when Malfoy had been given his last command. He was ordered to return home and kill every member of his family and then cast fiendfyre on himself.

An entire blood line. Gone. Just like that.

After that no one dared to protest. Even when Lord Nott was called up next and executed after being questioned no one said anything. At least his family and wealth would survive.

Amelia wasn't even sure if she minded if he was a demon either. Not after Lord Peverell made a point of questioning the death eaters to find out who had killed her family. After all, regardless of what he does in the future, he has already done right by the Bones family. Malfoy had tried to end her family line, it was only fitting his ended in compensation.

Once everyone in the Wizengamot was cleared she was delighted to find the show wasn't over. He proposed a law. One that fined every family that contained a death eater that wasn't kicked out prior to today half of their wealth. Needless to say it passed unanimously.

And then that delightful abomination had turned around and given her control of the funds. Half used to compensate victims and as a relief fund. A fourth to start replacing all the ministry workers who were about to die. The rest to rebuild the auror corps.

She wasn't sure how Lord Peverell meant to kill all the guilty ministry workers. But she had no doubts as to his success. Soon enough Lord Voldemort was going to find himself short quite a few people.

Thinking of the soon to be ashes of Malfoy Manor she can't help but think of her deceased family. For once it doesn't hurt. She holds a mental toast to them. Malfoy Manor will make a brilliant funeral pyre.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Truthfully I had half staged Malfoys reaction. After all he still had the damn diary somewhere in his home. The fact that I cowed everyone else was just a delightful bonus.

I'll probably grab the ring and cup tonight. Voldemort's method of robbing Gringotts was elegantly simple. He had also discovered the weakness of goblin items to pure physical force. A large animated construct was easily able to simply batter the door down once he was inside. And the doors suck people in.

Which leaves the locket as the last certain horcrux. But not for long. "Kreacher."

I ignore his spiel about me feeling like a Black but not. I heard it before. Twice actually. I hold out a vial. "This is basilisk venom. It'll destroy anything. Including Regulus's locket."

Kreacher doesn't even thank me. Just grabs the vial and pops off. Oh well. At least I already got this world's Dobby. Who, despite never having heard of the boy-who=lived, currently worships me for rescuing him. The more things change...

Which begs the question of whether Voldemort created a sixth horcrux or not. Logically Nagini only became one after the attack on Harry. Which means he might still have one floating out there.

Really glad I can use the Ring or Cup to make a soul detector. This could easily become nightmarish otherwise.

Thankfully memories are stored regardless of whether you are aware of them. A product of our magic filling our auras. It had been fairly easy to find Harriet's and see her scar vanish.

Our best hypothesis is that repeated resurrections and deaths wore out the horcrux in her scar. Like bungie jumping repeatedly with a frayed line. Hopefully having more than one and that one accidental will let him last a bit longer this time. After all I have so many plans for the future of this world.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Over the years my first three wives and I have grown incredibly close. Initial social isolation left them incredibly vulnerable to emotional manipulation. Even though I had long since destroyed the contracts, they had played a very strong role in shaping them as they grew up. Combined with our physical intimacy and I'm sometimes surprised we ever left the bedroom.

And despite a tendency to get absorbed in our respective projects we didn't drift apart.

Our tendency to get absorbed in our respective projects did separate quite often, but it didn't feel like we were drifting apart. Rather more like growing more comfortable and secure in our relationship. I had figured that without the conditioning of years under contracts Harriet would be different.

I was so very wrong. If anything, she was even more affectionate. It was obvious in hindsight, well that and legilimency. Never having been exposed to love growing up she had no baseline until she met us.

Sirius, if anything, made things worse with his flings. The romantic meals and dates, often followed by fights when we left, ruined any image she had of a more traditional romance. Harriet had looked at his horndog attitude and my marriage and decided the missing element was sex.

I'm not even sure I can argue with her. I somehow doubt Sirius would be able to dump a veela. And her example of the Dursley's was really hard to refute. Even the Weasley's had severe issues that might have been prevented by Molly being shagged mellow. Or at least a more dominant husband.

Harriet isn't a nymphomaniac, but I doubt most people would be able to tell from how she behaves.

So I really should have expected what Harriet had done. After all, despite sharing a last name, Harriet was far closer to Luna than any of the others. Which while great for my libido, was not good for my heart. Massive surprises tend not to be.

Surprises such as Harriet's battle staff project.

Harriet, and likely with the help of at least Luna, had taken my original staff project for the Bifrost and combined it with the runic knight project. Instead of a only two people, a maid and butler, being copied over and over there was a full team.

The maids were grouped teams of four. They were all armed with microguns that they carried in a discrete pocket sewn into their skirt. They were also trained to work in pairs and full teams of four. The butler was in charge of several teams, the number depending how large the section of the castle he was in charge of. He was armed with a minigun and trained to act as a command up to half a dozen teams.

In many ways they were just an offshoot of the runic knights. Despite their equivalent firepower though, they were clearly not as effective. Putting aside their lack of armor, their focus on posture and inability to crawl around or even take take cover really made it clear they weren't soldiers.

Warriors maybe. Ones from a more primitive age where holding the line mattered. And with their teamwork ,not terrible ones either.

It was an interesting concept. Not something I'd have created on my own, but a perfectly adjustment. Better in some ways since it means in an emergency I'll be able to deploy them. More backup is always a good thing.

The runic knight project will still be my focus though, with it's creation of the Glasswalkers. Seven feet tall and sheathed in overlapping armor plates of what looks like translucent obsidian, they're an intimidating sight. The problem was that due to a number of recommendations I had drastically overhauled the entire project. Instead of a single type of construct I was aiming for an entire army of specialized soldiers.

Limax, with their binocular vision and ability to flawlessly coordinate all four of their arms, were much better snipers than humans. Arm them with four bullpup .50 caliber rifles and they can mow down entire squads. At least they should be able to eventually. The bayonets mean that a fighting style based around four short spears had to developed.

I plan on calling the constructs modeled off of them Hydralisks. It fits thematically if not visually. Serpentine creatures that fight with a long range projectile weapon.

I had already created a version I was calling biovores. Armed with four mortars it served as an entire artillery battery. Since two of the mortars were loaded with gas shells it didn't even need a close combat style. The only reason it was finished already.

The Dremora were the original humanoid versions. Their weapon was now a bullpup MG42 machine gun. The end of the barrel had a long bardiche blade mounted on it. The stock was telescoping to turn it from an axe to a polearm. I'd have liked to use a more modern gun, but they all fired so much slower. And it wasn't like I needed to worry about ammunition or the barrel melting.

There was also one based off the dwarves since they bred so slowly. The Genlocks were armed with a massive bladed mace combined with an anti-tank rocket launcher. The actual dwarves were shifted over to crafting and training in order to improve the genlocks. Eventually they will likely take over their production entirely.

I have plans for a few flying versions, but those are all on hold now that we've jumped dimensions again.

In the end I suppose I'm happy that the battle staff so closely mimics my glasswalkers. More troops are always good and different unit tactics gives me more options. And there isn't a problem. After all they do staff the Bifrost castle perfectly well still. And it wasn't like the weapons are a problem. They're all stored at the back of the supply closets. Not to mention they all carry a withering curse on them.

I couldn't resist a few adjustments to them though. Harriet had just gone for keeping their original appearance. I had a much more interesting idea.

It was the work of a moment to locate a number of platinum blonde models. I didn't want people whose natural hair color was at least close. I was very picky, choosing one for each of them that looks like they could be related.

Then I changed the hair to a silvery white and the eyes to a dark red. Inspired by game character customization I set up a pattern of subtle alterations to be used when making them. After all if I was going to have what was essentially a copy of the von Einzbern homuniculi staff, they should look the part.

Just looking different wasn't enough though. Four personalities was a good start, but not enough. So I borrowed from DnD and added in personality quirks, hobbies and a few other random differences.

Enough to make them individuals. And of course acting lessons to make it believable. Fortunately they all show enough talent at it I don't need to try and replace them. That would have been a horrible waste of time. It seems all the service training along with etiquette lessons were close enough they already had a solid grounding.

Sadly they weren't going to be very magical. The supersensory charm along with the additional senses would have to serve as their racial magic. Even then I was limited to only adding mild heat and UV vision along with heightened hearing. Everything else disoriented the trainees too much.

At least the mild weight cancellation charm worked out. Acting as if under only half gravity, it took time for the trainees to adjust. But once they did their movements became much more graceful. Another major benefit was that they grew much quicker, able to accelerate and turn much easier. Along with the senses it seemed enough to stand out as a distinct set of magical abilities.

Several magical species all look like they're all siblings. So why not mine? I even took genetic samples from them in case I ever needed to establish new lines or branches of the species.

To further the illusion I had them all sculpted out of marble. The pure glossy white with the faintest traces of pink is close enough to normal skin at first glance. Combined with the hair and eyes it'll give an impression of being thoroughly inhuman.

I name them Irisviel. It seemed appropriate, a tribute to the character I stole the look of.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Voldemort was fairly simple to take care of. Interrogation of his followers easily revealed his current location. And since there isn't any reason not too, I drop a bomb on the LeStrange Manor, disembodying him and ending their line.

Driving home yet another lesson. No harboring the dark lord or I'll come for you.

I probably should have let him keep running around. I could have collected more than the forty families I already had. The problem was that the soul detectors registered two hits.

Voldemort had made his last horcrux. I wasn't about to wait and potentially let him hide it somewhere it'd become incredibly annoying to retrieve it from. It was easy enough to pick out of the wreckage of the manor, the detectors leading me strait to it.

I'm actually surprised he used his wand. I actually thought he would have used it much earlier if he had ever intended to do so. Looks like I moved too quickly. Voldemort was hardly going to disarm himself.


	19. Investments

Chapter 19 Investments

With nothing keeping me in Britain I go abroad. I had been summoned in 1983, over two decades before the point where I was last. I was going to take ruthless advantage of it. It helps that record keeping is much simpler. It was easy enough to insert us into the system with a few spells, granting us new identities and even a massive overseas bank account.

Hermione's insane library was invaluable there. She had records of stocks and companies as well as best sellers and countless other things we can use. Based on the histories I end up targeting Panama.

From the history texts it was currently under an unofficial military dictatorship. And it was about to tear itself apart. Add in it's ties to the United States and it was perfect.

In a country as corrupt as Panama currently was, it wasn't difficult to gain ownership of vast tracts of land. Under the guise of a eccentric patriot I started up a large company specializing in manufacturing and electronics. And like that, Espada Industries was born.

With the Cold War still going strong and how militarized Panama was, everyone was interested in the aerial surveillance drones I developed. Using titanium, graphite infused spider silk and starlite I was able to replicate enough of the abilities of the drones I had with current technology.

A few covert deals with the CIA and I had the unofficial backing of the USA. And selling to the Panamanian government gave me their backing. Soon enough my Predator drones became a common sight in Panama.

Using the CIA contacts I imported military trainers and started creating a private army. And since I had working examples of guns up through the 2000s I ended up recreating the Tavor rifle. One of the reasons I chose it was that it fired the same 5.56 mm rounds the US uses. Need to keep the neighbors happy.

It was quickly followed by my own 20mm bullpup rifle. Firing a massive 20 x 150 mm round, it was designed to be my default sniper rifle for my forces. Not to mention that my mounted automatic weapons were going to be using the same rounds.

I shamelessly ripped off the LAV design, although I did alter it. I replaced the turret weapon with a tribarrel automatic 20mm gatling cannon. Additionally I removed the crew quarters in order to add additional fuel tanks and a larger engine. Named the Mantlet, it was meant to be used as a pure infantry support vehicle.

Transport was via helicopters. Based of the Chinook, I doubled the engines and number of blades. It cut down on how much it could transport, but it was more than enough to deliver squads of infantry. The Trueno could also just barely carry a fully loaded Mantlet.

An assault version of the Trueno replaced the cargo area with three turrets on either side. Each turret held the same 20mm gatling cannon used by the Mantlets, allowing it to lay down a massive amount of firepower.

All my vehicles also ate enormous amounts of fuel, but it wasn't like I needed to worry about it. I was more than willing to just duplicate fuel cannisters. After all it wasn't like they needed to last.

To disguise the fact that I was just duplicating the fuel my vehicles were using I 'accidentally discovered' a small oil field. I purposefully did a terrible job of hiding my development of it and arranged for several covert deals to supply the US. Making the copies last a bit longer was worth the goodwill.

Slowly Panama was dividing into three different areas. The official government, the canal region and mine. Massive use of the imperio curse kept anyone from interfering long enough to establish myself. And after I did, it was too late.

Not to say my region was the nicest. I ruled there with an iron fist, blatantly assassinating everyone who caused problems. However the prosperity and relative safety meant I was still considered the best choice.

That many people were far more than I needed. Which meant creating more sources of revenue. So I established a few false gem mines. They used the gem creation machines I had previously developed and while they didn't produce a lot, it was enough of a boost to give me reputation of having a golden touch.

Although the increased population did have one major benefit. It provided me with a large genetic pool. With the way the population seemed to be in constant flux it was easy enough to kidnap a few of the most beautiful women. After all, most of the people who signed up for the Rajput Academy were male and I wanted more than just one generation.

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My success did not go unnoticed. Several times I had to deal with spies, infiltrators and sabateurs. In particular the various drug cartels were anxious to get ahold my equipment.

In response I deployed the Rajputs, who had taken to calling themselves the Raven Knights due to their masks. Essentially they operated as my secret police. With voice changing charms and legilimency they quickly developed a terrifying reputation.

I never deployed many of them. I didn't want to draw too much attention from the wizarding world. It was fortunate that Panama didn't have a ministry. In fact they barely had any magicals at all. It didn't take much to sweep the country for magic. Within the first year everyone magical in the country worked for me or was dead.

After the first year and with a now successful company I fought back. Everyone we caught was imperioed and sent back to their home and ordered to go on a public killing spree. It didn't take long before everyone got the message.

Despite everything my patsy was still assassinated twice. The first time I just replaced him, but the second I had his 'son' take over. That this occurred right after America invaded was excuse enough for me to launch my coup.

Everyone had heard stories of how much better life was in my area. When I invaded, the people cheered. And since Espada Industries was equipping all my forces, I couldn't resist making officer uniforms largely white and using skulls instead of stars for rank.

My Raven Knights were seen more than ever after that. Hunting down corrupt officials in addition to their previous targets. It didn't help that the previous government had been hopelessly corrupt. Rather than fear them, people started cheering their appearance.

Internationally though, I quickly gained an infamous reputation. Other nations absolutely hated when I sent their agent back to them. Not that I cared. Only one country mattered to me. America. And that was because I had invested so heavily into a few areas.

The two primary items I was interested in were both weapons. The first was a laser cannon. Currently there are several types of chemical lasers under development. None have seen widespread usage though.

Eventually if they follow the same path, chemical lasers will be abandoned due to cost. They'll be replaced with much weaken, but cheaper lasers. I wanted to push their development as far as possible before that happens. Ideally gaining vehicle and maybe even infantry scale weapons out of it. Even if it's only as prototypes.

The second is the LRAD, basically a sonic cannon. In the future it is fairly successful as a non-lethal weapon. And the company that creates it is currently privately owned. I'm curious to see just what the limits of a sonic weapon are.

Thankfully the media in America are sheep. When they started criticizing me I arranged a few graphic assassinations and they quickly stopped, opting to attack targets less likely to fight back. Cowards and jackals.

And as for my neighbors? I closed the borders.

I built checkpoints on every road and had drones patrolling the skies. Raven Knights and house-elves inspected everything passing through. And when the drug cartels inevitably made their move I sent out entire teams of Raven Knights. Within a week thousands of people seemingly went insane and started rampaging throughout Columbia.

The world sent aid and inspectors, but never found any proof I had anything to do with it. Just like they could never prove I burned and salted the earth in Costa Rica. It was just coincidence that agitators tried to stir up the populace against me in favor of establishing a democracy only a few days before.

As far as the rest of the world was concerned, Panama was a very lucky and useful neighbor. But to intelligence agencies, we were a black hole.

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With a full county under my control and an established reputation in industry I could finally relax. At least that was my intention. The 'secret' of my oil fields reaching the Arab nations changed that plan.

They were outraged at my complete independence from them as well as my refusal to give any rights to their religion. In fact I had made sure the vast majority of muslims had 'accidentally' died in my take over.

Which they saw through, but I didn't really care. One suicide bomber was more than enough reason for me to wipe them all out. None of the other religions did anything to cause me that much trouble.

Well, maybe Catholicism. But that was more widespread protests and a few riots after I started executing priests that preached against me. Civil disturbances were not tolerated. To the priests that left me alone I extended the same courtesy.

World wide they rallied against me, but could do nothing. I was almost completely self-sufficient.

I didn't have it in me to just ignore them though. Petty and arrogant though it was, I struck back. So I spent quite a bit of time sneaking around and adding compulsions to the most vocal of my protesters. Slowly they would all turn into obviously rabid hatemongers.

With an official country peacefully under my control I decided to resume work on Yggdrasil. After all I wouldn't be able to bring Panama with me when I get summoned again.

Towards that end I started another settlement in Yggdrasil. The handful of wizards already had were more than enough. Half-bloods aren't any weaker than purebloods. And since I was already kidnapping women, what's a few hundred more? And Columbia just so happens to be imploding right now.

I slip into the wizarding world in Brazil to hire a few more men. Then I dose each of them with the Draught of Living Death and store them for later. Genetic diversity is important after all.

I also had quite a bit of fun crafting their village. Replicating a tropical village was a nice relaxing exercise after dealing with running a country. Even cheating with magic only takes me so far.

Thankfully the women have a variety of skills between them. More than enough to raise future generations properly. And with a little mind magic they don't even mind. Not that I had to fiddle much. Even starting a new village is a much better life than back in Columbia.

I hadn't sent everyone I caught on a killing spree. A very few I imperioed and sent back as double agents. It was thanks to them that I discovered Saudi Arabia was pressuring the US to do something about me.

Which prompted me to start a massive round of assassinations. Harems were a common enough practice in that country. It was easy to convince the girls to join me afterwards. I didn't even need to charm most of them. They were just happy to not be homeless.

Setting up the settlement for them was simple. A basic desert ecosystem along with a few large compounds. I plan on having them ranch to provide for themselves. Nothing good comes from giving people too much free time.

It was only afterwards that I realize that I now have four different ethnic communities. Well sort of, since the Rajputs are going to be heavily mixed. Maybe I should add more? The Corvinus project can be adjusted to create a group.

Maybe China? They have a population problem after all. And I seem to remember reading somewhere that the orphanages are filled with girls since so many families want a boy. Africa too will be easy enough to find people.

I spend the next few months collecting various groups and setting up new settlements. Hermione has largely taken over the government in Panama, wanting to conduct several social experiments. Well she calls them programs and reforms, but it amounts to the same thing.

Harriet had taken over the metamorphmagus breeding program. She took a fertility potion and figured since she already had twins a few more babies won't be any more trouble. Especially since she still has the Irisviel and house-elves to help.

Luna is busy monitoring all the new settlements and current projects. She considers it the ultimate version of a strategy game. Balancing resources, production, populations and a number of other factors to steer the growing settlements in the direction she wants.

The tentative preliminary setup for now involves massive abuse of the duplication charm. Food dispensers located in every home and will be preloaded with a small selection of ethnic cuisine. Small gardening plots were available to anyone who wants them. And since a dish can be uploaded into your families dispenser it wasn't like you needed large harvests.

Luna's still setting up the complex web of interrelated jobs that will pay people although weapon training and craft workshops will definitely be one of them. Everyone will have to work at least fairly regularly since the dispensers won't be free. It won't be too expensive though.

The dispenser will cost a copper for a meal. With a training session lasting from four to ten hours and paying around a copper an hour people can easily feed themselves or provide for a family. Seed and animal corpse dispensers will also exist and likewise cost a copper to operate. Learn to butcher and cook and you can easily stretch your money.

Advancement tests for proficiency with weapons and crafts means you will be paid more per training session. How much more I haven't decided, but it needs to be attractive without being subject to abuse. Maybe an extra copper a week if you attend at least one session?

That'll work. I'll just have several advancement tests. Say three advancement tests for apprentice, journeyman and master. And make master pay ten coppers instead of three. So a goal to aim for.

I'll let Luna decide if any other jobs are needed. Which is likely since they'll clothes and everything else still. And fix the money system. One hundred coppers for a silver. One hundred silvers for a gold. Simple without goblins involved.

Ginny had been frustrated that she couldn't openly fight when I took over. She understood the risk of exposure was just too high, but still disliked it. It was because of her that I came up with my next project.

I was going to build a dungeon.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

A dungeon was perfect. It would serve as a source of danger and resources all in one. Troops can use it for practice, but much more importantly I was going to open it up to all of the settlements.

Without fundamentally altering them at a basic level humans, and thus wizards, will always have those who want more. Who aren't content to stay at home and farm or ranch or learn a craft. And while people who just want to fight can always join the Rajput Academy, what about those who want to explore?

Of course my dungeon wasn't meant to replace military war games and training. Rather it was meant for civilian stress relief. Much like sports it would provide the settlements with exotic stories and living heroes. Which is why it was going to mostly consist of medieval era muggle combat.

I had long ago installed a very special runic chain in every wand and staff created in Yggdrasil. It disables the foci when they're within a specific ward, which I was misleadingly calling a magic disruption ward. Along with an actual ward to disrupt technology, specifically explosions, means adventurers will need to rely on muscle powered weapons and wandless magic. And just maybe this will push people into developing wandless magic or learning spellforging.

The wards might actually be overkill. At least the explosion ones. After all it wasn't like the settlements had access to any kind of technology. And despite trainers and training, even developing arbalests will take some time.

I don't want large parties so I'll scale the number of enemies to how many people appear. With a minimal amount for up to say... four. Standard adventuring party size. After all it's meant to help me control the populace, not to just be exploited.

I'm really glad I have so many spare trunks now. I'll easily be able to spare the trunks necessary to make a dungeon for each of the nine worlds along with supporting areas. Although each dungeon won't need more than a single trunk. Nine square miles is more than large enough for a level or rather dungeon floor. And I don't intend to have more than a hundred floors, so the remainder can be used for restocking.

Having more than fifty ranches all devoted to breeding the creatures should be plenty, especially if they've been modified to grow quickly. Or at least plenty to start with. I'll still probably use an enormous amount of undead and constructs. Especially since I can duplicate them and have house-elves drop loot when the bodies vanish.

Although I need to order the house-eves not to hide when helping the settlements for that to work. Something like having them add a snap and bright spark when they do something. And no disillusioning themselves. And wear a new uniform too. One designed for the settlement.

Now that I think about it, it will easily be at least a generation or two before the settlements grow large enough to really need a dungeon. Plenty of time to work on it.

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I go classic for the start. The first level is a lightly forested area that contains the overgrown ruins of a massive castle. Almost immediately I ended up having to start over. It was almost immediately obvious breeding areas with living animals was not going to be possible. Not in the numbers and varieties I wanted to use them.

Instead I decided to use carefully programmed inferi. Inferi wildlife will follow any directions I give them and I make sure to scatter them throughout the level. It's only the first floor so I go easy.

Snakes, foxes and other small animals are by far the most common. Not that they're normal versions of those animals. Giant's blood and other additions have made them larger and even altered them. The most dangerous creatures were porlocks, further altered to grow three feet long and with razor bladed quills. There is one for each other patches of regional appropriate vegetables planted in the area. And while most will drop a tanned hide, the porlocks will drop a handful of quills.

A massive augury serves as a field boss. Only appearing at night, during one of the occasional showers of rain. The rain only lasts an hour and it roams around the edges of the level. It'll drop a handful of feathers or rarely an enchanted quill.

The castle itself I just copy. I'll likely replace my copy of Harlech Castle later, but it's plenty for now. Especially since it has a basement level. Add a few extra entrances and secret doors and it was perfect.

I have the place guarded by skeletons. Obviously not actual undead, but rather wire bound constructs. Rusty armor and weapons were enchanted to still be functional. They occasionally dropped a normal version of one piece of equipment or a small spool of gold wire.

The basement level mostly had more skeletons and a few large rats. Two feet long and prone to ambushes. A rare copper was all that dropped from them.

The last part was the sewers. The basement had a large entrance, and there was another in the castle behind a secret door. There was even one from a hidden pipe In the stream. The sewers were charmed to amplify an echoing dripping sound. Combined with all the turns and smaller pied it was easy for the large rats to try to sneak up on people.

The sewers all eventually fed into a large chamber that served as the boss room. I built a rat queen. Basically a further enlarged rat over six feet long and obviously pregnant. Create an inferi foot long rat with a modified gemino curse on it and it can 'birth' swarms of smaller rats. And since it's pregnant, it moves slower than it would normally be.

After seeing just how small a variety of creatures I've used, I decide to create starter dungeons. Low level local dungeons that will be linked to each settlement. This one is going to be for the British settlement.

Although looking it over I do have quite a bit of empty space. Why not change that. After all it's a fantasy dungeon. Logical food chains tend to be incredibly rare and often contrived.

So divide the floor into subareas and generally expand. Harlech Castle is replaced with a copy of Hogwarts, albeit run down by time. And surrounded by a curtain wall studded with towers. Then I add more skeletons and even add a few moss covered stone gargoyles. The gargoyles are very crude. Animated stone that moves ponderously. Stick some gems in for eyes and have one drop as loot.

In keeping with using Hogwarts the first section is a lake. The entrance will drop you off at a small pier filled with small boats. The crossing won't be easy. Large swans will swim and occasionally fly around. Turtles will drift around and bite small holes in boats if bumped into. And add a few otters to throw rocks as people.

Nothing incredibly dangerous. It was still the very beginning of the first floor. But it'll harass people. And if too many people enter at once? I have a kraken.

No one likes cheaters.

Under the lake is a different story. Swarms of Grindylows inhabit the kelp forests. Serpentine merfolk, which oddly enough remind me of naga from warcraft, populate the small coral castle in the center. And in the very center of the castle is a chest. The only magical item on the first floor. A harpoon that returns.

With the two important areas taken care of I still had seven left. I scatter the vegetables between the two areas bordering the lake. The porlocks, along with skunks, will still be in one area. I add giant dragonflies and fist size horseflies as well.

Leafier plants will be in the other with a nest of giant ants wandering through the area. A giant anteater can appear and serve as a field boss if they kill too many ants. Along with the queen, which is essentially another field boss, I decide to add a second magic item in a chest. A wardstone set to increase plant growth.

The other areas filled quickly. A pack of wolves that has a Crup puppy in the den. A nest of two foot web spinning spiders with a bolt of aracumantula silk dropping from the half grown aracumantula. A massive hollow tree with a bee hive inside. Berry bushes guarded by a giant bear and foxes and an orchard guarded by a herd of wild pigs and squirrels.

Then I added in traps. Small partially buried bear traps, noose snares and pitfalls. The castle had extending spikes and dart shooters. None of them were lethal, but they would injure people. Most importantly they would get people used to searching for them. And an Unplottable enchantment prevents anyone from mapping the area or even memorizing where the traps are located.

It's still horribly empty. Only two species for an entire square mile? But it's a good start. Maybe a small watchtower staffed with skeletons in each zone as well. And of course I always just spread the creatures out across the floor. Just use them in much smaller areas.

So many ideas.

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One of the best things about creating something like a dungeon is getting to see it in use. For some reason it didn't register until after I was about to start working on a second floor. The fact that it'll easily be a decade at the very least before anyone even enters my dungeon kills off all my enthusiasm.

Thankfully Ginny took over the dungeon project. She claimed to enjoy violent challenges. Even theoretical ones.

Which is good. Given too much time I have a tendency to over engineer things into horribly broken set ups. For some reason I find planning out death traps relaxing. A major reason why I held back from creating a brand new castle for the dungeon.

However the dungeon reminded me of a computer game I enjoyed. Dungeon Keeper. It was basically what I had been doing, although it was much lighter-hearted in approach and best of all, hadn't been created yet.

Pulling up the details I realize the game won't be made for five years. I start looking through the list of older games I own and I have an idea. A terrible horrible idea. It's also incredibly funny. Enough so that even though I have no need to do so I go ahead with it.

So the Catholic church wants to declare me evil? I'll gladly answer them. It doesn't take me long to announce the formation of my new entertainment company, Evil Inc.

It isn't hard to sneak into America and imperio the original founders of ID Software. Soon enough the four programmers move down to Panama and are working for Evil Inc. It turns out they were already working on Wolfenstein, which means I got to them just in time.

Despite the move, Wolfenstein 3D releases on schedule. After all they have the original to work with. Since the company isn't in America I spend quite a bit promoting it as much as possible. I also make sure the game includes the shareware version of Doom.

The next year, Doom releases. A full year before it originally came out. It's wildly successful and my company name is now taken as a sarcastic joke. I also arrange an accident for a few people, including the person who creates Dungeon Keeper. Suddenly hiring too many people would just look suspicious.

Continuing my trend of stealing games I release Diablo the next year, which had the expansion pack already integrated into it. And the year after that I release Dungeon Keeper. Which gets me an amazing amount of flak from several groups. It's also incredibly popular.

Cheating shamelessly I announce that next year we would not only be releasing a new game, Baldur's Gate, but will also release our own console gaming. I base it off the Dreamcast, although I make sure to use two disc drives and drastically increase it's RAM.

Just as planned, I release Pandora's Box. Three months before the first Playstation comes out. Despite the enormous loss I sell it for a hundred dollars, a third what the other consoles will and do cost. I spent another fortune advertising it, which made me very glad no one can audit me. Showing that I effectively have limitless resources might make people jealous.

Baldur's Gate came out on computer as planned, but it also came free with Pandora's Box. Something that made many people buy it. It was actually for games like Baldur's Gate that I needed the second disc drive. The console version place all the maps on the second disc.

Not that Baldur's Gate was the only game that is released that year. No one wants to buy a console without any games. Devil May Cry, Jade Empire, Halo and a dozen other best selling titles were also released. I stole every best selling title I felt that I could get away with from every sixth generation console along with several computer games.

Thankfully EA and several other companies are quick to hop on the bandwagon. Which nicely takes care of sports and racing games. I had never enjoyed playing those kinds of games. Which is why I didn't have any examples of them either. Let them deal with all the negotiations. Although I'll probably buy some now just in case.

I completely crush Sony's Playstation. I had a lot of trust given my past successes so the initial launch did well. Three months was more than long enough for initial reviews to come out. And of course the games were wildly popular.

Poor Nintendo, after seeing the performance of my system, actually stopped working on their own console. Instead they signed a very generous licensing agreement to make games for mine. The move actually took me by surprise.

I actually felt a little bad for Blizzard for sniping Starcraft the next year. Without Diablo or Starcraft they were not doing too well. I don't port it over. I stole it because it does well and I wanted to create my own version of Smash Brothers. As well as League of Legends.

Those two, along with Starcraft: Ghost were among the first new games I had planned on creating for my console. And aside from a handful of sequels I was pretty much going to leave my computer game department alone.

I also planned on turning the very popular FFX into it's own series. It's so convenient that each game is pretty much a standalone. Called the Sinkiller Chronicles, it'll start with the original FFX with only a few differences. Small changes in dialogue letting the player know that Sin, the game boss, changes each time it comes back and also warps reality each time, adjusting the rules of magic and even altering or replacing many existing creatures.

A series of prequels will walk through the versions backwards. It'll also show how the world changed over time. Each game will have a more powerful hero, showing how magic was weakened over time. I had a full staff planning the story for years by this point.

That wasn't the only game I had redesigned. Champion's of Norrath along with the Dark Alliance games were rolled into a single unique series without ties to any other setting. Although I did keep the Dark Alliance name.

A quick meeting with George Lucas and I'm able to go ahead with Knights of the Old Republic. Not to mention Battlefront.

Surprisingly Sony didn't fold. They kept going with their system and in Japan even outsold mine. It helped that I wasn't the only one producing best sellers. My releasing so many new games altered society in a very subtle way. Everything that becomes popular enough does.

New games with new stories started being developed. Many of them which would have never been created before. Or would have died in committees. I make sure to keep track of who was announced to be on each development team. It may come in handy in the future.

Likely due to how computer like my console was, both Microsoft and Apple announced that they were also working on developing game systems of their own. Which is fine. I don't care about competition. I already had what I needed. An enormous market share. A larger share than I probably needed, but it never hurts to be too careful.

Right on the heels of the computer companies announcement I made one for the Pandora's Box 2. Only three years after my first system, it caught everyone by surprise. The game schedule was promised to continue without interruption and the new console would be backwards compatible.

Just like last time it would come with a free game. An MMORPG. And it would have a coupon that made the first six months free. It would also be released a full three months early in Panama, just to build up the hype.

The game was what I had been working towards for six years. Based heavily on World of Warcraft, it would heavily reference several of my more popular franchises. Dungeon Keeper, Diablo, Jade Empire, God of War, Dark Alliance and Prince of Persia.

Fans would have already spotted the small clues left in those games that hinted at them being related to each other. Things like the common races, references to runes and how similar several of their demons behave.

The unifying story would reveal how gods and demons are the same things. It just depended on how they interacted with people. And God of War style, most of the dungeon raids were designed around killing them.

Classes would largely be based off Diablo 2's list, with a few additions from the other games. There was also a huge number of support skills. Almost double what WoW originally had. Again by drawing on the other games. Additionally there was a hidden support skill.

Runecrafting.

It wouldn't be easy to find and won't even take up a skill slot, instead counting as a third slot. Nothing about it will be available for purchase except in history books. And those will just be vague references and myths.

I had already made sure to prime people with Diablo 2. Massively boosting the effectiveness of runes. Although I also only used around a dozen and only allowed short patterns to be set. Anything else would just cause an explosion.

Runecrafting will only be unlockable with Archaeology. And even then only by using it inside a museum or a few places in a raid. Everywhere else it'll act normally.

Runes will also be the source of the most powerful buffs in the game, able to enhance literally everything. It's also the most complicated. As they explore they can discover literally hundreds of different runes. Add in how it can be arranged in chains and arrays and it gets worse.

The final thing I add is that it takes a month to charge. Since days are literally one hour it gives me a bit of leeway. I have the game shutdown for an hour every night just so I can have any new rune arrays tested in real life. Of course I have to also have them translated. I wasn't crazy enough to use the actual runes.

That was what the game was for. What the entire game company was for. The rune training had yielded some impressive results. But that was only a small group.

Now imagine millions of people. All of them pouring their time and effort into it's study voluntarily. The sheer potential for advancement. And between computer databases, machine printing and time turners I can easily test them all.

I was already planning on incorporating it with the expansion packs. Having a story that shows a quickly unraveling reality as the gods all war between each other. And depending on the god or even pantheon every type of magic will eventually be disadvantaged at one point or another. Except runes.

The expansions will also start to provide low level rune schemes from a few npc craftsman. Becoming more complex with each new expansion.

Simple guides will also be available. Barely more than an introduction really. Like the first few chapters out of the Hogwart's rune textbook. Modified for the game of course.

Of course Hogwart's doesn't cover all the runes in the game. I didn't just use the Norse runes. I had access to runes from across the world and added in most of them, only leaving out duplicates.

So the guides will be based on the region. Each one only covering that group's runes. Players will have to travel between different areas in order to collect the guides covering all the runes. With each expansion the guides will become more complete. Eventually they'll be equivalent to the textbooks used to teach runes in the wizarding world.

I also plan that the collector's edition of each expansion will come with a rune textbook. It'll be a bound tome containing a copy of all of the guides in that game. A nice little boost. Later expansions will come with full textbooks, but only for one region. Eventually they'll all be out there.

To help I also plan on publishing things like a rune puzzle book and other tie in products. The Starcraft series will have the Xel'naga using runes. Jade Empire 2 will have them as part of their recently uncovered lost heritage. Prince of Persia 2 will have them as puzzles when he journeys back in time.

Who knows? Rune crafting might eventually end up a field of study like Tolkien elvish.


	20. World Building

Chapter 20 World Building

Singe leaned back as he contemplated the capriciousness of genetics. He had been studying and experimenting for eighty years now and could honestly claim to be one of the world's foremost experts in almost every field related to biology. His employer was extremely generous, willing and able to allow him to pursue multiple degrees in any university he wished.

Not that there weren't drawbacks. The fact that his new leader was a dimensional traveler came as a shock. Losing all of his carefully cultivated contacts had been a setback, as was the fact that he lacked reputable credentials once again. Although that was almost meaningless in the fact of the sheer potential wealth in specimens he now had access too.

He had repaid that generosity by throwing himself into his work. First by studying diligently and then by conducting the experiments with the Corvinus virus. Altering it so that it no longer was linked together had been his most frustrating task and his ultimate triumph.

It wasn't without benefit for himself as well. The Therianthrope virus was his magnum opus. A heavily modified version of the original strain that seamlessly incorporated variant strains into itself. Even better each variant strain allowed for a new form.

There was still a limit of three new forms, but it was a small price to pay. And not quite as much of a limitation once he unlocked another mutation his employers labeled warform. It was something in addition to the three forms and allowed each to be pushed to extremes, becoming much larger and powerful.

Singe had unlocked over a dozen forms. All of them made using rabies. Figuring out how to grant a secondary form was trickier, but Lord Peverell's suggestions had been the key. More saliva and then pregnancy. A truly unusual combination.

He had even touched upon other viruses. Ebola created a strain that simply allowed for incredible regeneration while human. Unfortunately that seemed to be the best he could do. The others all yielded weaker versions of healing or failed horribly.

What he really wished for was the ability to create a new form based upon a magical creature. To date every attempt had ended in the infected going mad or simply dying. Witnessing Lord Peverell transform into a basilisk had been awe-inspiring.

Magic was truly wondrous. It was also infuriating, not allowing itself to be revealed even under the most powerful microscope. So he had concentrated on what he could do. Dozens of new forms flowed from his labs. Singe had been content with his work.

Only now to be confronted with the fact that a bumbling buffoon named Hagrid had long since surpassed him. It wasn't right! That he could just such horrible crude techniques and just have magic make up for his ignorance. And the things he achieved.

Magnificent. Try as he might, he couldn't deny that. And Singe was honest. He had to be as a scientist.

Still there was hope yet. Hagrid wasn't immortal. In fact it was his funeral that was causing these thoughts. There was plenty of time for Singe to catch up.

No. Not catch up. Surpass. After all Hagrid barely understood what he was doing. And one of the rules of magic indicated understanding what you were doing make it easier. How much further could someone like him go?

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Honestly, as much as she loved Harry, no Hadrian now, sometimes he was pretty careless. Using an entire square mile for a single encounter? This was supposed to be dungeon, not a nature hike.

Still, best not to change things too drastically. Harry. Argh! Even after all this time she still has trouble thinking of him as Hadrian! HADRIAN, is still a boy. Throwing away what he had already done might hurt his feelings. He's so sensitive sometimes.

It's hard thinking of what would present a challenge to a normal person. Even before Hadrian had made her immortal so they could stay together forever, the rituals had pushed her well beyond human limits. She still wasn't sure what to choose as her extra forms. Hadrian hasn't picked his yet and she wanted them to match.

Even if their animagus forms didn't match at all. A wolverine was completely different from a basilisk. At least it wasn't something wrong with her. Not even Merlin had a magical species as their animagus form. It was supposed to impossible! Which made it perfect.

And a basilisk really was perfect for him. She had played with a few of the ones he kept around. They were amazing! So strong and fast. Already over thirty feet long they were large enough to ride. While she couldn't talk to them, Harriet's boys could. James and Teddy loved to go for rides with her.

That didn't even factor into how giant Hadrian was. When he changed he was enormous! Measuring nearly sixty feet and with deep gray-green scales. He also weren't cold or slimy like her idiot brother had claimed. In fact his scales felt like warm polished stone, like a park bench on a sunny day.

Which... has nothing to do with what she was supposed to be working on.

Argh! Ok. Looking at it again. Clearly the lake needs to stay. That and the castle seem to be the important parts. Now to make it a challenge.

First Ginny added a ward to cause a low fog bank to rise from the waters. Slightly glowing fog. Add a chain of reflective buoys shaped like candles to guide adventurers. The turtle traps are fine. Maybe even too effective.

So a larger boat. Which provides a more stable platform for fighting, but can hit turtles even easier. A decent trade off in she adds a small manual pump. Very small. No point making it easy.

Swans for attackers and otters as harassment. Ginny decided to keep them the same, although had the swans only attack alone and the otters in pairs.

Fog along the pier and stairs mean the skeleton archers can't target anyone. Probably good for what are essentially fresh recruits. The rest of the castle seems fine. Only pairs of skeletons patrolling most of them ordered to guard specific positions. Which was completely boring so she added a few chameleon ghouls.

The castle's a bit too empty though. No real draw to get anyone to explore. So create a few special areas. Owlry is easy enough. A small swarm of owl skeletons. And as a reward a post owl egg. None of the settlements have magical animals yet, so it'd be a good one to start off with.

Although she should probably treat this like an actual castle instead of a school. So each dorm is really a barracks. Lots of skeletons there. Have them 'sleeping' and place a tripwire on the stair along with a false step that alerts them. Add in a chest in the fireplace and another noisy trap in front.

For rewards the dorms should be different. Sword and shield wielding skeletons in Gryffindor. Hufflepuff will have warhammers because of all the stairs, archers for ravenclaw and spearmen in Slytherin. In each one piece of a different type of armor would be found. Chain for Gryffindor, breastplate and splint mail for Hufflepuff and hardened leader for Ravenclaw. Finally scale mail for Slytherin because she couldn't resist.

Ginny had fun with the library, while also making a note to never let Hermione see it. She had large gaps in the wall and even floor above it to let in more light and had saplings grow throughout it. Deliberately aged parchment that exploded into clouds of dust were left on otherwise empty shelves. A very few will be real and detail information such as how to raise an owl or grow radishes. They'll cover everything harvestable from the floor. And oversized bowtuckles, three feet high, stalked the area.

Have the headmaster's Office be a miniboss, a large skeleton in full plate with a great axe. The reward being an actual map, although it'll be more general zones than anything. With the Unplottable enchantment on the entire floor it was the best that could be done. It'll also serve as a lure to get people exploring.

The greenhouses shouldn't be left empty so Ginny added a pumpkin patch. She know Hadrian wanted to keep it limited to British plants, but she couldn't resist the impulse. The skeleton gardeners, disguised scarecrow and flock of skeleton chickens should be enough of a challenge.

And as for the original areas, it's increasingly clear she's going to need to scrap most of those. The dungeon was much to dangerous. The rats were fine. But only singly in the basement. And only in pair at most in the sewers. As for the boss. Nope. Not happening. Ginny replaced it with a Devil's Snare.

Not all of Hadrian's ideas were bad. Small stone guard towers can serve as an obvious main boss area for a zone. Place a few skeleton archers on top, have the first floor and basement converted into dens and clearly marked target.

Adding a side area off to the side of the lake also makes sense. Small stone walls dividing the area along with a hedges breaks it up into a number of smaller areas. Most will have a porlock inside it that will drop a bundle of quills. The areas with actual vegetables adventurers can harvest will have a badger.

Further back will be wilderness, but not forest. Scrub, with thorny hedges forming a natural maze. Hares will ambush people, attempting to knock them into the thorn bushes. Rare berry bushes will be in areas with a lynx. The tower held a pair and granted a kneazle kitten.

The other side of the lake will be marshier. Reeds and a few other march plants will be there. Cabbage and lettuce as well. Adders were the enemy here, along with a few herons that wandered around.

Further back the area turned into a series of rolling hills. Foxes snuck around to ambush people. Between the thick underbrush and flitterbys, they should have an easy time doing so. She wonders how long it'll take anyone to realize they only get attacked at the top of a hill?

At least the nearby orchard wasn't hard to set up. Just past the fox hills it was guarded by a scattering of boar. The trees weren't neatly lined up, but placed in small groves. Every grove had a boar.

Past the orchard Ginny placed a stream. It meandered over to feed the marshy area and had a small pond along with a beaver dam. The pond had plenty of fish along with a four foot lobster.

Back over by the gardens Ginny set up a large rocky hill. The tower wasn't surrounded by encounters unless you counted attacks from single lemmings. Entering the tower would spawn a swarm though.

Just past the lemmings was the edges of the forest extended all the way to the back of the floor. The area was a massive densely wooded area that had adventurers harassed by squirrels and owls. The few clearings all had a wolf. The tower held a pair and defeating them granted a crup puppy.

Just behind the caste Ginny decided to convert into a massive hedge maze. Ten foot walls and spanning for over a mile across. The only real danger aside from getting lost were the wandering deer. Getting trapped in front of a charging buck was fairly dangerous.

The last corner Ginny set up as a very dense forest with a canopy that blocked out most light. Woodpeckers and crickets all infested the area, filling it with noise. Which made it hard to hear the small groups of crows that would ambush people in the tiny clearings where light shone down.

For traps she decided to leave the ones Hadrian had placed. Bear traps, snares and pitfalls were plenty dangerous for beginners. Her only real addition was to add several bee hives to serve as trap and reward.

The castle had most of it's traps removed. Extending spikes and dart shooters were way too lethal. Instead Ginny went with more tripwires and trick stair steps

Looking at the docks at the base of the stairs leading into the castle she created another zone. A rocky shoreline that extended until it met the marsh and vegetable areas. Giant crabs and eels will be enough danger to keep the area from being considered too safe.

Seeing just how much she had managed to squeeze into such a small stretch of land really drove home how large the project was. While she had doubled the number of zones, she could probably easily double it again. Which might even be necessary to get the true dungeon feel. And just sounded exhausting.

Thankfully she has long since mastered a task Hadrian still has trouble with. Delegation. It was simple enough to hire a bunch of game designers to help her with the project. There were hundreds of people who wanted to work here after the game company started up. Poaching a few of them was easy enough. And who knows? Maybe they will end up making an actual game out of it.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Hagrid's first love had always been for all the poor misunderstood beasties that everyone didn't understand. They reminded him so much of himself. He had enjoyed helping out in the Care of Magical Creatures class and working as gamekeeper, but that didn't look like he was going to be able to keep doing so.

Everything had gone funny since Dumbledore and a bunch of others stuffed shirts had all died. The meeting was kept real hush, but no one can stop rumors. And they all said it was Dumbledore's fault. Which is nonsense. Blaming someone as great as Dumbledore for what was clearly the work of some dark wizard. Probably just too scared to blame to right bloke. Cowardly lot.

It seems everything who supported Dumbledore was laying low now. Except he was a mite too big to hide even if he wanted too. Which meant the job offer came as a surprise.

It was a tad queer to see little Ginny Weasley, who he had only a week ago escorted across the lake, all grown up. Her explanation of time magic and altering walls made little sense. It didn't really matter though. Ginny was a Weasley and Dumbledore had always believed in them so Hagrid would too.

Then he found out what his job was. Even if he wasn't going to be given the boot he'd be mighty tempted. They were going to be creating guard pets! Lovely, cute and very friendly. And naturally ones that can fend for themselves. It was a dream come true!

At first the projects were pretty odd. She wanted pets that looked like people. Ones smart enough to train and work in groups and use fancy toys. Lots of other details too. Enough to make his head spin.

Some of it bothered him. Blood magic is dark stuff. At least until Ginny swore that both Lily and Dumbledore used it. When she explained how people were scared of it because it was strong made perfect sense. It was just like him and his pets.

Hagrid was pretty excited to find out he was talented at blood magic. It seemed to work for him easier than most. Even Ginny's husband said so. And anyone who came from a family Dumbledore admired should know. It was brilliant being good at magic. They even got him a new wand. And since they weren't in Britain anymore he couldn't get in trouble.

Well, know one knows more about critters than old Hagrid. So he was more than happy to help Ginny out. After all that's supposed to be part of his job now.

Hagrid experimented some, but in the end he settled on redcaps. Wee little mushroom people, they were very useful. They just soaked up dark magic so you could plant them anywhere the stuff was and eventually they'd clean up the land. One of the reasons they were everywhere.

Well that and the fact they can also grow in an area where a lot of blood was spilled. Horrible muggles never seemed to stop fighting and redcaps just kept spreading.

Blood was one of the main reasons Hagrid went with the redcaps. The way they fed off it meant that blood magic could affect them easier that most. It was easy as can be to grow them up a bit so they could stand tall like regular folk.

Redcaps are tough little buggers, perfect for what Ginny wants. They're very close to plants so not much really counts as that important. They're mighty tough to get rid of without magic. I might have cheated a bit when I had to deal with them. Dumbledore always gave me a wink when I did so it was alright.

Part of that toughness was how fast they recovered. Knock a limb off or smoosh them flat and they'd just plant themselves back into the ground. Then they'd just heal back up. The trick was luring them away from ground they can plant themselves on.

The plant part also meant they could be crossbred with other plants. It did take a touch of blood magic and alchemy, but they successfully bred them with horklumps. Whole fields of them could be grown almost overnight.

Teaching them to use better tools than just clubs was far beyond him. Too complicated without help. Which turned out to be Luna Lovegood. It was nice to see that even after all they've been through Ginny and Luna were still friends. It was always nice to see things working out.

Luna didn't take long to fix the problem. She just took his new pets and brought them back the next day. And just like that they could do all sorts of neat things like walk in lines next to each other and use lots of new tools.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

Luna held back her laughter until she was sure she was alone. Then she lost control, cackling madly as she rolled across the floor. Ginny has absolutely no idea just how insane of a creation her work with Hagrid had yielded.

The myconids, as named by their geeky husband, were essentially only a step down from a full blown alien invasion. Zerg, tyranid, even xenomorphs. It wouldn't take much to push the myconids into the same level of danger. And Ginny wants to use them as disposable combatants!

It had taken her less than an hour to realize the potential of the myconids. They grew fast, bred faster and were very resilient. Even their food supply wasn't too difficult to secure. Blood and dark magic were incredibly easy things to obtain under the proper conditions. And thanks to the horklumps they can even eat meat.

Best of all they were incredibly susceptible to blood magic, easily accepting almost any change. Which included behavioral alterations. Sadly they couldn't be made as intelligent as a human. Which isn't much of a handicap with how many instincts that were able to be programmed in. if their reliance on external equipment was removed they would be terrifying.

Instead they're barely sideshow attractions. Not much physically better than a human except in resilience and without the mental flexibility to compensate. Since their ability to burrow with equipment was restricted to organic matter, metal weapons and armor weren't possible.

Good thing there were plenty of organic substitutes available. It only took a single comment to steer Hagrid in the right direction. Luna was curious what kind of armored horror would be the result.

The absolutely best part was catching Ginny consulting a TV show of all things for ideas. While Ancient Warriors was entertaining enough, it was hardly a substitute for true research. Luna supposes she shouldn't be surprised Ginny hadn't put much more thought into it beyond basic gladiator game level training.

Still that was one of the best things about being in charge of a country. There was no limit on manpower. It was simple to get a team to research not just the equipment, but the tactics and fighting styles of various historic armies. She was honestly surprised Ginny hadn't thought of it. After all she had already done so once already.

At least the arena idea Ginny had was a sound one. It was a pretty good idea to have a 'safer' method of gaining combat experience other than the dungeon. Basing it off the Colosseum was a nice touch too.

Hadrian had stipulated the settlements were not allowed to fight each other so a ranking system needed to be added. One that factored in challenges, scenario rules and even terrain maps. It's basically a real life video game! Ginny really did have a great idea this time.

That wasn't the only thing she had been drafting teams of people for. She had been hard at work updating the Glasswalker project. Even to the point of replacing the Biovores with her own design.

The Carnifex was a hulking eight foot unit that was bipedal and dual wielded spiked tower shields. The shields were part of the armor and were scaled, with the same regenerating ablative design as the rest of the armor. In the very center was a large reactive armor plate can also be used as a claymore mine. Only a pair of heavy mortars were mounted on it's back, but a the ability to defend itself was worth it. Besides now they can use the 120mm mortars instead of the 81mms.

Additionally Luna had decided to expand on the Irisviel. If they were truly to be considered an actual race then they needed to be more than just staff members. After all, as militant an empire as Hadrian is assembling it only made sense that they would have their own branch.

Drawing inspiration from a Swiss military journal, Luna created the Irisviel Macil. Or simply 'sword' in Quenyan since she thought it would be hilarious if everyone ended up thinking Tolkien had met the Irisviel at some point. Hadrian liked the idea enough to make their ears slightly pointy. The Macil was a four foot blade set on a three foot handle with a ball mace pommel and lacking any kind of guard.

The swords were made from hyperdiamond and goblin silver. Well goblin tungsten technically. And adamant and mithril if anyone asks. With a momomolecular edge it had amazing cutting power. Boosted by it's high vibrations, friction reducing charm, and cutting enchantments it completely ignored non-magical armor.

It was a shame she was going to have to kill the entire group after the project was over. But it just wasn't possible to hide how much magic was being used in their training. The weight reduction charms already made them highly acrobatic. Their gear also had no weight, only inertia. Plus paired with a modified arresto momentum charm and they could literally turn on a dime.

Additionally, since Luna wanted a combat style reminiscent of Ataru, she had the boots enchanted with limited flight charms. They wouldn't lift them more than a few feet high, but would still accelerate them to over a hundred miles per hour. Sadly any faster and the braking charms wouldn't be strong enough to preserve their incredible maneuverability.

Seeing just how complex the new fighting style was, Luna changed her mind. Rather than a few years it seemed far better to set this up as a long term project lasting a few generations. Which sadly did mean she wouldn't be able to set up the Irisviel settlement anytime soon.

At least the dungeon town project was going well. Why Hadrian keeps calling them settlements is a mystery. No doubt some game reference. Again.

And dungeon town really was the perfect name. After all each 'settlement' was going to end up with their own regional and culturally themed mini-dungeon. And after all the work she had put into it, Luna felt like the project really was hers. Not that she begrudged the effort.

It was exhilarating adjusting everyone juuust right so that all the new villagers accepted their new realities without breaking down. Cultural differences, food preferences, even habits all had to be altered. It was like assembling the most intricate three dimensional puzzle ever.

Luna loved the challenge. She also realized a bit more prep work was needed for the project. So the first dungeon was getting linked to the British settlement. Hence why she was changing their names to dungeon towns.

A second floor laid out in a more traditional underground dungeon layout as a nod to the classics. Then three more floors designed around other environments that can be found in Britain. They also had more fantasy like creatures and 'dire' versions of animals present. Something easy enough with engorgio charms.

At the end of the fifth floor was a boss room. Luna couldn't resist placing a dragon there. Not a real one obviously. That's would be way too much. But still a decently terrifying inferi. And that way it's 'fire breath' wouldn't melt magic items. Which made it improbably, not impossible.

Luna had so much fun setting it up that she even asked Hadrian to get up a few more groups. After all there were hundreds of groups out there. Even a fraction of them would provide her with so many more opportunities for entertainment. A new exciting dungeon for each one.

And when the world dungeons were finally opened up. The cultural clashes would be hilarious. Managing it all will be an endless source of fun.

 **Oooo - Ooo - Oo - O - oOo - O - oO - ooO - oooO**

The time of peace allowed me to complete what likely is my most importat project ever. The rebuilding of Yggdrasil. When I had first commissioned it out of goblin silver I had felt secure in how safe my resource base now was. Since then I realized how wrong I was. A single stray bullet can take everything away.

I still intend to wear it on a necklace. I have it have it physically on me just in case. But instead of a string of charms I'm going to have a single brooch. A massive, heavily enchanted sphere of goblin tungsten it'll hold the trunk for the Bifrost.

It's still not as secure as I'd like, but two feet of enchanted armor is about the limit for protecting the trunk and still having it able to shrink down small enough to wear. Not that it's a solid block. Coping the idea from my Glasswalkers, the core was surrounded by multiple layers of various regenerating ablative armor.

I'm keeping most of the internal layouts the same, just changing a few details. Such as the fact that each of the nine worlds are going to branch off from the Bifrost trunk and properly organizing the nesting trunks instead of the haphazard way I've been expanding.

I also finally began working on the other worlds. Midgard was pretty much the only place I had worked on so far. But a national discovery article had inspired me. I was going to experiment with extreme environments.

The original set of worlds even fit. Or at least two of them. Muspelheim was a world of volcanic heat and Nifleheim was a world of ice and shadows. And Jotunheim was the land of giants.

Jotunheim was also what I decided to work on first. I based at least the initial areas on the giant redwood trees found in the United States. Hundreds of feet tall and dozens across, they seemed perfect for the atmosphere I was going for.

It's fortunate that we managed to recruit Hagrid. He knows an amazing amount about breeding, including how to infuse magic into normal animals to cause them to grow larger than normal. He usually does it to make it easier to raise enough food for the Hogwart's kitchens, but if done over generations it results in a new magical species.

The redwood forests doesn't really have any large species living in the area. If they did, they had long since been driven out of killed off by people. Still, I had ideas on what did exist.

The squirrels in particular I enlarged. With a larger size they would eat entire pinecones rather then nibble on them. Meaning they could spread the seeds since I really didn't like the idea of forest fires. It was also the only species I had to create for the world.

The first Hagrid, bless his delusional mad scientist heart, had crossbred and otherwise mutated more than enough terrifying creatures to provide me with everything I need. Massive lizards made from komodo dragons and actual dragons preyed on giant two headed rabbits and deer. They were also some of the most recognizable creatures. Many of them were so altered I had no idea what their parents had been.

At least Hagrid loved the idea of designing an ecosystem based around megafauna. I'm sure once he's done the world will be posiitively bursting with large, deadly creatures. Eventually I plan on creating a world or main dungeon for Jotungeim, similar to the one I'm making in Midgard. That can wait until Hagrid's done though. After all, it'd be a shame not to take inspiration from his brand of insanity.

And while they're much more tentative, I've already started plans for more worlds. Both Muspelheim and Niflheim are easy. After all volcanic and arctic environments already exist. I just need to massively expand them. But what about something new?

There was no way I was about to create a world for each race. At least not unless their population grows a lot. And I didn't have any elves either. So I was going to replace the two elf worlds with something very different.

At the bottom of the ocean, surrounding volcanic vents, is an entire ecosystem centered around chemosynthesis. Setting up a large water world with very faint cave lights on top, mostly lightless depths and artificial volcanic vents should create an appropriately exotic new world. Svartrheim as opposed to Svartalfheim you could say.

In fact why limit myself to only nine worlds? Sure I don't have nine worlds planned right now, but there really isn't a reason to limit myself. Yggdrasil could become a true world tree. Dozens of branches and hundreds of leaves. Each one a new world.

I have more ideas, but they can wait. I have all the time in the world right now to work on them. Even if my settlements reach the Midgard dungeon much earlier than planned, it'll be decades before they are ready to start exploring my new worlds.


End file.
